Taiwan will conduct computerized war games next week to test its capabilities against the “overwhelming superiority” of the Chinese military and Beijing’s first aircraft carrier, a senior military official said yesterday.
The exercises, scheduled to start on Monday and run through July 22, are part of the annual “Han Kuang” exercises, now in their 27th edition. The live-fire portion was conducted in April.
“China’s first aircraft carrier will become operational next year … marking a change of possible warfare in the region,” Major General Hau Yi-chi (郝以知) told reporters.
The 300m Soviet-era carrier, purchased in the 1990s from Ukraine and originally known as the Varyag, has been undergoing an overhaul at the port of Dalian. Beijing says the carrier will be used predominantly for training purposes.
China is developing nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, though they are not expected to be launched until at least 2020.
An aircraft carrier group would potentially double the military threat posed to Taiwan by China by allowing the Chinese to approach from directions other than across the Taiwan Strait, experts say.
“Given the Chinese communists’ rapidly expanding military might, the defense ministry has centered on asymmetric warfare during the previous exercises,” Hau said.
“In next week’s maneuvers, the ministry will mainly center on the navy’s asymmetric combat capability in the face of the Chinese communists’ overwhelming superiority,” he said, declining to provide details.
The ministry will also evaluate defense capabilities in the event of a surprise attack, he said.
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