Live-fire drills are to be held from July 25 to 29 to simulate the defense of the Port of Taipei against a Chinese attack, a military officer said yesterday.
The drills are part of the annual Han Kuang military exercises and would focus on defense scenarios of the port in New Taipei City’s Bali District (八里) and the nearby Tamsui River (淡水河) estuary, the officer said on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
If the port and the estuary were to be captured by invading Chinese forces, they could unload military equipment near the capital, the officer said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The drills would simulate Chinese forces attacking with fighter jets and helicopters, as well as a joint counterattack by Taiwan’s armed forces, they said.
Another military source earlier said that if Chinese forces were to capture the mouth of the Tamsui River, which is 8km from the Guandu Bridge connecting Taipei and New Taipei City, they could advance toward the headquarters of the nation’s major political institutions and farther into northern Taiwan.
Blowing up the bridge has been part of defense simulations over the past few years, the second source said.
The annual exercises are intended to improve the military’s’ capability to engage in asymmetric, cognitive, information and electronic warfare, and mobilize reserve forces to enhance overall defense readiness by incorporating civilians, said Major General Lin Wen-huang (林文皇), who is in charge of combat and planning affairs at the Ministry of National Defense.
This year’s live-fire drills would also focus on eliminating invading forces at sea and along the coastline, Lin told a news conference in May, adding that the three branches of the military and a wide range of weapons systems would be deployed.
The Han Kuang exercises, first held in 1984, are Taiwan’s most important military drills and seek to test the country’s combat readiness in the event of a Chinese attack.
This year’s tabletop wargames phase, the first of the two-part exercises, took place from May 16 to 20.
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