This year’s Han Kuang military drill will be held on the southern beaches and the surrounding sea of the Penghu Islands with live fire exercises performed by all armed services, military sources said.
In past years, the Han Kuang drills mobilized actual forces, but did not include live firing exercises, a decision which the ministry said was motivated by environmental concerns, and was criticized as detracting from national defense.
According to officials, the exercise area is to include Dongji (東吉), Siji (西吉), Donyuping (東嶼坪), Siyuping (西嶼坪), General (將軍嶼) and Hujing (虎井) islets.
Meanwhile, the military is negotiating with local residents in an attempt to minimize inconvenience to the public, the officials said.
Sources said that the military plans to stage the drill in Penghu County because of the drastic decrease in military forces stationed on the island.
The drill is to focus on the rapid deployment of military forces from Taiwan proper to Penghu to prepare for a scenario in which China’s People’s Liberation Army attacks strategic facilities on Penghu Island via ballistic missiles and fighter jets, and attempts to breach the line of defense by landing armed forces on the southern beaches of Penghu Island, engaging with the garrison there.
The drill will also call on reserve forces to enhance their capabilities to “assemble on receipt of orders,” sources said.
The air force would stage a live fire exercise using the F-16, the Taiwan-made Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) and the F-5E jets. The navy would also be conducting exercises with Cheng Kung-class and Chin Chiang-class frigates, as well as the AH-1W Cobra attack helicopter, the S70-C anti-submarine helicopter and Thunderbolt 2000 multiple rocket launcher system. A varied assortment of military artillery and machinegun systems would also be used, sources said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard