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Lawrence Chung

Taiwan has kicked off its annual Han Kuang war games to assess its forces’ capacity to tackle a full-scale attack from the People’s Liberation Army.
The five-day mega exercise got under way on Monday and coincides with annual drills to test residents’ response to missile and air raids from across the Taiwan Strait.
Unlike previous Han Kuang exercises, which were pre-rehearsed, this year’s games will focus on mimicking actual combat as closely as possible, according to Taiwan’s defence ministry.
“These [real-life battlefield] scenarios guide officers and soldiers to validate through exercises the feasibility of joint operation plans and the ability of all military units to execute these plans in a real combat situation,” the ministry said in an earlier statement.
This is also the first Han Kuang exercise since William Lai Ching-te – branded by Beijing as an “obstinate separatist” – took office as Taiwanese leader in May.
At least two regular features have been cancelled for this year’s exercise.
There will be no exhibition drills staged for the island’s leaders, and no live-ammunition exercises in the island proper.
Rather, the live-fire component of the drills have been moved to Taiwan’s outlying islets closer to the mainland coast, including the defence outposts of Matsu and Quemoy, also known as Kinmen.
Monday’s drills tested how far the military could sustain and preserve its combat power in the event of a full-scale PLA attack.
Dozens of warplanes based in western Taiwan took off on Monday morning for bunkers at the Chiashan base in the eastern county of Hualien and the nearby Chihhang base in Taitung county, according to the ministry.
The planes included F-16 fighter jets, Indigenous Defence Fighters, Mirage-2000 fighters, as well as P3C anti-submarine and E2K early warning aircraft.
With western Taiwan just a short hop from the mainland Chinese coast, fighter jets based there are seen as more vulnerable to direct cross-strait strikes. Sending them to the east would help to preserve forces for a counterstrike, defence ministry officials said.

Major naval vessels, including Taiwan’s new “carrier killer” Tuo Chiang-class corvettes, also left their home ports on Monday morning and sailed to designated locations to take on “enemy” vessels in combat scenarios. Naval mines were also deployed to assist the ships in fending off the simulated PLA attack.
Later in the day, troops also practised defending the capital Taipei and preventing the key political and financial hub from being bombarded in the event of a PLA “decapitation” strike aimed at wiping out the top leadership or command centre.
The games are also testing nighttime troop performance – with drills held around the clock – and the ability to safeguard critical infrastructure in Taipei and boost key supply line resilience in the event of a blockade by the PLA.
A major area of focus this time is information systems competence, including troop response to loss of contact with central command, according to Admiral Mei Chia-shu, the chief of general staff.
Mei said the drills would also test how well soldiers from different units were able to independently implement rules of engagement in combat situations where communication with higher command is disrupted or cut off.
The largest war games of the year are being held in conjunction with the annual Wan An air raid drills, which simulate missile and warplane attacks from the PLA.
On Monday, vehicles and pedestrians were taken off the streets for 30 minutes as the four-day drills took off, with people asked to stay indoors or move to local air raid shelters.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China, to be reunited by force if necessary. Like most countries, the United States does not recognise Taiwan as independent but opposes any attempt to take the island by force and is legally bound to supply it with defensive weapons.
Cross-strait relations have worsened since Lai, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, was elected in January. Beijing labelled the result of the vote as “unacceptable”, warning that his leadership would bring war to Taiwan.
Lai’s inaugural address on May 20 provoked Beijing further when he declared that Taiwan and the mainland were “not subordinate to each other”.
In response, Beijing launched large-scale military drills around Taiwan, simulating a blockade.


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Taiwan kicks off Han Kuang war games with live-fire drills closer to mainland China

A Taiwanese air force Mirage-2000 aircraft takes off from an undisclosed base as the annual Han Kuang exercise begins on Monday. Photo: AFP 

Taiwanese naval vessels take part in the exercises off Yilan county in northeastern Taiwan on Monday. Photo: AFP

Taiwan shifts focus of annual military exercise to test units’ ability to operate without orders from top

This year’s exercise will not be scripted. Photo: Military News Agency via AP

Soldiers pictured taking part in an anti-landing drill near New Taipei City. Photo: Reuters 

Taiwan’s ‘options limited’ as Beijing steps up grey zone pressure from skies to sea

The mainland China coastguard has pledged to intensify patrols off Taipei-controlled Quemoy, also known as Kinmen, and elsewhere in the Taiwan Strait. Photo: Weibo/ China Coast Guard

Mainland Chinese coastguard has pledged to intensify patrols off Taipei-controlled Quemoy, also known as Kinmen, and elsewhere in the Taiwan Strait. Photo: Weibo/ China Coast Guard

Taipei has not ruled out that the Tan Kah Kee, or Jia Geng, had been engaged in grey zone operations. Photo: Handout

News

China

Politics

Five-day mega drills, the first since William Lai took over as Taiwanese leader, will forgo rehearsals to more closely mimic actual combat


Five-day mega drills, the first since William Lai took over as Taiwanese leader, will forgo rehearsals to more closely mimic actual combat.


Defence

Taiwan kicks off Han Kuang war games with live-fire drills closer to mainland China

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Five-day mega drills, the first since William Lai took over as Taiwanese leader, will forgo rehearsals to more closely mimic actual combat

Five-day mega drills, the first since William Lai took over as Taiwanese leader, will forgo rehearsals to more closely mimic actual combat