Taiwan holds huge war games to role play Chinese invasion scenarios

The yearly 10-day Han Kuang workout volition trial Taiwan’s quality to respond to a Chinese onslaught connected its bid structure.

Taiwan has launched the largest-ever mentation of its yearly warfare games exercises, relation playing responses to a hypothetical onslaught by Beijing connected its communications systems earlier an penetration of the island.

The 10-day live-fire Han Kuang exercise began connected Wednesday, conscionable a time aft a Chinese subject spokesperson warned of Beijing’s “inevitable reunification” with Taiwan. The yearly drills are being held amid reports of escalating harassment from China, astatine a clip erstwhile planetary attraction has been focused connected the ongoing Israeli warfare connected Gaza, the caller US-Israel-Iran conflict, and the Russia-Ukraine war.

“We are learning from the concern successful Ukraine successful caller years and realistically reasoning astir what Taiwan mightiness look … successful existent combat,” a elder defence authoritative told the Reuters quality agency, speaking connected information of anonymity owed to the sensitivity of the exercise.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said the warfare games exercise, including combating “grey portion tactics” deployed by China that halt conscionable abbreviated of all-out warfare, volition gully successful the army, navy and aerial force, backed by a grounds 22,000 reservists.

About 300 reservists were seen entering a inferior precocious schoolhouse successful the metropolis of Taoyuan that has been emptied for summertime recess, with troops receiving weapons training, Reuters reported.

Communications strike, penetration scenarios

The drills kicked disconnected with exercises intended to antagonistic Beijing’s ships that person been harassing Taiwanese vessels astir land groups adjacent to the Chinese coast, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said.

The effort volition aboriginal absorption connected simulated anti-landing exercises, including fortifying ports and imaginable Chinese landing points connected an land 160km (100 miles) from the Chinese coast, The Associated Press quality bureau reported.

The drills would focus, successful their aboriginal stages, connected investigating however Taiwan is equipped to header with the benignant of onslaught connected its bid and connection systems that is expected to precede immoderate Chinese invasion, elder defence officials told Reuters. The workout would measure however Taiwan’s subject could accommodate and decentralise bid successful the lawsuit of specified an attack.

The exercises volition besides impact the usage of caller High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, oregon HIMARS, made by Lockheed Martin, arsenic good arsenic Taiwan-developed Sky Sword surface-to-air missiles for the archetypal time. Taiwan has precocious received caller subject equipment, from tanks to waterborne drones.

Beijing: Reunification ‘inevitable’

China claims democratically governed Taiwan arsenic its ain and has ramped up subject unit astir the land implicit the past 5 years, with warfare games and regular patrols.

It has ne'er renounced the usage of unit to bring the land nether its control, prompting concerns that a Chinese penetration of Taiwan could 1 time eventuate and ignite a broader war.

Taiwan’s authorities objects to China’s claims of sovereignty and says it is up to the island’s radical to find their future.

China’s Ministry of National Defense said earlier the drills connected Tuesday that thing would beryllium capable to forestall the island’s eventual reunification with Beijing.

“The Han Kuang workout is thing but a bluffing and self-deceiving instrumentality by the DPP authorities, attempting to hindrance the Taiwanese radical to the Taiwan independency cart and harm Taiwan for the selfish interests of 1 party,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Colonel Jiang Bing said astatine a quality conference, referring to Taiwan’s governing party, the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party.

“No substance however they execute oregon what weapons they use, they cannot defy the [People’s Liberation Army’s] anti-independence sword and the humanities inclination of the motherland’s inevitable reunification,” Jiang added.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Beijing appeared to person attempted to disrupt preparations for the workout connected Tuesday, carrying retired “harassment operations astir Taiwan’s aerial and oversea domains”, The Associated Press reported.

The ministry said Tuesday that Taiwan had deployed surveillance measures and “dispatched ngo aircraft, vessels, and shore-based rocket systems to appropriately respond”.