Taiwan launches annual war games with simulated attacks against military command
TAIPEI--Taiwan launches its largest ever military drills on Wednesday, starting with simulated attacks on its command systems and infrastructure ahead of a Chinese invasion, senior defense officials said.
The early stages of the annual Han Kuang exercises will focus on testing how Taiwan's military can decentralize command in the event of a crippling communications attack. Over the next 10 days, the drills will expand to assess Taiwan's combat readiness against a full-scale attempt to seize the island.
'We are learning from the situation in Ukraine in recent years and realistically thinking about what Taiwan might face ... in real combat,' said one senior defense official, highlighting the need to protect command and communication systems.
'Commanders have to think what issues their troops might face and they need to pass them down to their subordinates,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the operation.
Cyber-attacks and misinformation campaigns are seen by Taiwan as high-intensity 'grey zone' actions that are likely to precede a broader Chinese assault.
The annual Han Kuang exercises will this year mobilise the largest number of reservists, some 22,000, and for the first time feature New High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, made by Lockheed Martin, along with Taiwan-developed Sky Sword surface-to-air missiles.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own and has intensified military pressure around the island over the last five years, including a string of war games.
Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control, and any attack on Taiwan could ignite a broader regional war.
As they evolve, the drills will feature 24-hour operations army, naval and air operations to defend Taiwan coasts.
Civil defense elements will also be tested, including the creation of emergency supply stations as well as the use of Taiwan's recently-expanded air-raid shelters.
China's defense ministry said on Tuesday that Taiwan's Han Kuang military exercises were 'nothing but a bluff.'
'No matter what weapons are used, Taiwan can't resist the People's Liberation Army's sharp sword against independence,' ministry spokesperson Jiang Bin was quoted as saying by state broadcaster CCTV.
The Taiwanese senior defense official said they wanted to show China that they faced an unpredictable foe and that any invasion scenario was growing more complex, while showing the international community that Taiwan was determined to defend itself.
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te and his government strongly object to China's sovereignty claims, saying it is up to the island's people to decide their future.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nikkei Asia
an hour ago
- Nikkei Asia
Trump exacts a price from Nvidia, AMD for AI chip sales to China
Advanced Micro Devices can export lower-performance AI chips to China in exchange for giving 15% of the revenue to the U.S. government, under a deal with the Trump administration. © Reuters RINTARO TOBITA and KOSUKE SHIMIZU August 13, 2025 01:53 JST WASHINGTON/PALO ALTO, California -- U.S. President Donald Trump's deal with chipmakers to allow exports to China in exchange for a cut of revenue looks set to boost Washington's coffers, but the security concerns that prompted the original export restrictions still remain.
The Diplomat
3 hours ago
- The Diplomat
Censored Thai Exhibition Undermined ‘Core Interests,' China Claims
A detail from the poster advertising the 'Constellation of Complicity' exhibition, which opened on July 24 at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center in Bangkok, Thailand. China's government has accused the organizers of an exhibition in Thailand of undermining its 'core interests,' after the publication of a report that the show's co-curator removed and altered artworks at the request of the Chinese embassy in Bangkok. The Reuters news agency reported last week that the Bangkok Art and Culture Center (BACC) had removed materials about China's treatment of ethnic minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang and its policy toward Hong Kong from an exhibition featuring artists from authoritarian nations. In a written response to Reuters yesterday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that the exhibition 'promoted the fallacies of so-called 'Tibetan independence', 'the East Turkestan Islamic Movement' and 'Hong Kong independence',' distorted China's policies and 'undermined China's core interests and political dignity.' The exhibit, titled 'Constellation of Complicity: Visualizing the Global Machinery of Authoritarian Solidarity,' opened at the BACC on July 24. According to the center's website, it features artworks from Myanmar, Iran, Russia, Syria, the diaspora community, and 'regions with cultural and autonomy demands.' It said that the exhibition sought to interrogate the 'formal and informal alignments between authoritarian states through the lens of artists who have lived through – or in exile from – their consequences.' Reuters' report quoted Sai, an artist from Myanmar who has co-curated the exhibition, as saying that three days after the show opened, Chinese embassy staff, accompanied by Bangkok city officials, 'entered the exhibition and demanded its shutdown.' The news agency also quoted an email dated July 30 in which BACC said: 'Due to pressure from the Chinese Embassy – transmitted through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and particularly the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, our main supporter – we have been warned that the exhibition may risk creating diplomatic tensions between Thailand and China.' The email said the gallery had 'no choice but to make certain adjustments.' According to a report by Khaosod English, China was originally included in the list of repressive countries, but the word had been covered with black tape, 'both in the Thai and English descriptions of the exhibition.' It quoted Sai as saying that the names and regional affiliations of three artists, from Hong Kong, Tibet, and the Uyghur diaspora, had been 'covered with black tape,' while the Tibetan and Uyghur flags in one installation were removed. 'Later, all of Tibetan artist Tenzin Mingyur Paldron's video works were taken down, and postcards referencing Xi Jinping and a book were removed,' he added. 'It is tragically ironic that an exhibition on authoritarian cooperation has been censored under authoritarian pressure,' Sai told Reuters. 'Thailand has long been a refuge for dissidents. This is a chilling signal to all exiled artists and activists in the region.' Sai reportedly fled abroad after Thai police sought to find him. The censorship of the exhibition is a sign of Beijing's willingness to leverage its diplomatic clout to prevent the expression of criticism of Chinese policies, whether by Chinese nationals or foreigners. Indeed, it is just the latest in a line of Chinese attempts to shut down film screenings, exhibitions, and other cultural events abroad. In 2009, Beijing demanded that the Palm Springs International Film Festival withdraw two China-related films; the same year, Chinese hackers attacked the website of the Melbourne International Film Festival over its decision to screen a documentary about the exiled Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer. In both cases, the organizers refused, after which Chinese films were subsequently pulled from the festival line-ups, apparently under Chinese government pressure. Similarly, in July of this year, Chinese officials sought to halt the initial screening of the Philippine film 'Food Delivery: Fresh From The West Philippine Sea,' which details the experiences of Filipino troops and fishermen facing Chinese pressure in the South China Sea. According to its makers, the film was quietly dropped from the roster of the PureGold CinePanalo Film Festival due to what its organizers described as 'external factors.' (The filmmakers later moved to an alternative venue.) Chinese diplomats also attempted – unsuccessfully – to have 'Food Delivery' removed from a film festival in New Zealand. According to correspondence seen by the New Zealand press, the Chinese Consulate in Auckland said that the documentary 'is rife with disinformation and false propaganda, serving as a political tool for Philippines to pursue illegitimate claims in the South China Sea. Its screening would severely mislead the public and send the wrong message internationally.' In many of these past cases, festival organizers and gallery owners have refused to accede to Chinese requests to withdraw films or censor artworks. According to Sai, BACC also 'never wanted to censor' the 'Constellation of Complicity' exhibition and 'showed remarkable courage and professionalism in resisting repeated demands from the Chinese Embassy.' But the reported participation of the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority in the enforcement of the exhibition's censorship sends a worrying sign of Thailand's shrinking commitment to freedom of expression – and raises fears that close Thailand-China relations will exact a cost on the Thai creative community.
The Mainichi
11 hours ago
- The Mainichi
China says it handles entry into territorial waters based on laws
BEIJING (Kyodo) -- China said Monday evening it handles the unauthorized entry into its territorial waters by foreign military vessels "in accordance with the laws," following reports that Chinese ships fired at least two warning shots at a Japanese destroyer in July last year. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in a statement that foreign military vessels "must obtain approval" from the Chinese government before entering the country's territorial waters, without confirming whether the warning shots had been fired. According to diplomatic sources, the warning shots did not hit the Suzutsuki of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force when it inadvertently entered Chinese territorial waters off the country's eastern province of Zhejiang on July 4, 2024, despite repeated warnings. The destroyer, which was tasked with monitoring Chinese military drills on the high seas, sailed for some 20 minutes in Chinese waters, within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) of the Zhejiang coast. The incident triggered a protest from Beijing that urged Tokyo to prevent a similar case in the future. Chinese domestic law requires foreign vessels to seek prior permission before entering the country's waters. But Tokyo maintains that the Suzutsuki's entry into Chinese territorial waters was not illegal, citing the right to innocent passage. The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea recognizes the right to allow for a vessel to pass through the territorial waters of another state unless it compromises the safety of the coastal state.
