Taiwanese and Indian think tanks last month held a tabletop exercise in India simulating the potential effect of tensions in the Taiwan Strait on the Sino-Indian border, the Institute for National Defense and Security Research said on Friday.
The institute and the New Delhi-based United Service Institution of India, with the assistance of US academics, conducted a war game called the Taiwan, US and India Trilateral Joint Military Simulation Workshop, it said.
Designed mainly by the Indian institute, the exercise focused on India’s geopolitical posture in 2035, the link between the Taiwan Strait and the contested Sino-Indian border and likely responses to potential developments in the US, West Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Europe, it said.
Photo: CNA
Russia, ASEAN and central and western Asian nations’ roles in the simulation were played by retired Indian diplomats, guided by the policy and objectives that their governments are believed would pursue, the Taipei-based institute said.
Retired officers of the Indian armed forces also took part in the exercise, it added.
United Service Institution director B.K. Sharma, a retired Indian Army major general, headed the final discussion of the war game and urged participants to be aware of the perspective, policy and interests of the government they were simulating, it said.
The tabletop exercises took place during a visit by a delegation from Taiwan consisting of Institute for National Defense and Security Research acting deputy chief executive officer Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), and researchers Lee Che-chuan (李哲全), Shih Chien-yu (侍建宇) and Tseng Yi-shuo (曾怡碩).
The exercise differed from US-held war games, as it focused more on actors other than the major powers and the diplomatic reaction from third parties, Shen said yesterday.
The joint war games have the potential to be a template for more exercises, he said.
Asked about Beijing’s protest to New Delhi after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded to a congratulatory message on his election victory by President William Lai (賴清德), Shen said that China’s “canned responses” are to be expected.
What was more interesting was Modi’s remark that he “looks forward to closer ties” between Taiwan and India in a “mutually beneficial economic and technological partnership,” as it hinted at greater bilateral cooperation, Shen said.
Although Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party did not win a majority of parliament seats and had to form a coalition government, signs were good that Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Indian Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh would keep their positions, he said.
That would mean that India’s defense and foreign affairs stance on Taiwan would carry over in the new Cabinet, providing continuity in the two nation’s relationship, he added.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS