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https://scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3147043/taiwan-hold-air-raid-drill-alongside-mega-war-games-test Military
Taiwan to hold air raid drill alongside mega war games as test of ‘overall alertness’ against Chinese PLA attack
- Annual military and air raid drills timed to coincide in September as a test of preparedness of ‘both the government and the public’ against military threats
- Island-wide exercises come amid rising cross-strait tensions, with Beijing aiming missiles at Taiwan and sending warplanes into its air defence zone
Computer-aided war games simulate a People’s Liberation Army attack as part of the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual war games which also feature live-fire drills. Photo: Handout
Taiwan will stage a large-scale air raid drill – simulating missile and warplane attacks by Beijing – alongside its annual live-fire military exercise in September, as tensions mount in the Taiwan Strait.
The annual air raid drill, dubbed the “Wan An exercise”, will be carried out on September 15 across Taiwan, including its frontline islands of Kinmen (Quemoy) and Matsu, which lie at the doorstep of the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian.
This will be timed to coincide with the military’s massive annual live-fire Han Kuang exercises to test combat readiness of the island’s forces, especially against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. This year’s war games will run for five days from September 13.
“In view of the military threats from our enemy … we will hold the Wan An exercise at the time when we stage the live-fire Han Kuang war games to strengthen the overall alertness, preparedness and capability of both the government and the public in dealing with such threats,” defence ministry spokesman Shih Shun-wen said on Tuesday.
The Wan An drills will test island-wide emergency responses to air attacks, including missile and warplane assaults by the mainland military force, Han Kang-ming, director of the ministry’s General Mobilisation Office, said.
“The drill will feature passage of intelligence about the raid, tests of various air alarm systems, including the Airspace Threat Alert System, and other warning devices that can help increase the early warning time [for relevant authorities and the public],” Han said.
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The Airspace Threat Alert System, introduced by the ministry in 2019, is designed to provide advance warning of an impending missile attack. During the exercise, the system will send test messages to all mobile phone owners on the island.
Police forces across the island will also take part in the drill, giving directions to relevant civil defence units on ways to alert the public, including those living in remote areas, Han said.
The public have been advised to install an app developed by the island’s police to locate air raid shelters in the event of a cross-strait attack.
However, there will be no evacuation orders or traffic control during the drill this year, to avoid the risk of cluster infections in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, Han noted.
The annual Wan An exercise, first held in 1978, has gained importance in recent years as Beijing has ramped up pressure on Taipei by aiming missiles at Taiwan, sending warplanes into the Taiwanese air defence identification zone and staging war games close to the island.
On Tuesday, a twin-seated F-16 fighter jet overran a rain-soaked runway and ploughed into the ground when landing at Pingtung airbase. The jet was rehearsing an emergency landing in preparation for the upcoming Han Kuang war games on the Jiadong wartime runway. The nose and the landing gears of the jet were slightly damaged and both pilots were unhurt, the defence ministry said.
A test of emergency take-offs and landings of fighter jets on the Jiadong wartime runway will be a major element of the upcoming Han Kuang drills, which will simulate a scenario in which Taiwan’s military and civilian airports and airstrips are seriously damaged by enemy fire, and jets have to land on the highway, military officials said earlier.
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The five-day annual live-fire exercise involving all branches of the defence forces, with simultaneous air, sea and land drills, aims to test the combat readiness and defence strategies of the Taiwanese armed forces against a possible attack by Beijing.
Beijing claims sovereignty over the self-ruled island and has not renounced the use of force to bring it back under its control. Cross-strait ties have worsened since Tsai Ing-wen, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, was elected president in 2016 and refused to accept the one-China principle. Beijing has since suspended official exchanges with Taipei, stepped up military intimidation and poached seven of the island’s allies.