The key takeaways from the recently concluded Han Kuang military exercises include the military’s evolving response to "gray zone" threats, efforts to secure critical maritime and air routes and the possibility of stationing the Marine Corps’ 99th Brigade in northern Taiwan, according to a Taiwan-based think tank.
The Secure Taiwan Associate (STA) on Tuesday released a Chinese-language report about its observations of the drills from July 9 to 18, titled “Observations on adjustments in Taiwan’s military force deployments.”
The report is authored by National Defense University professor Ma Chen-kun (馬振坤) and Yang Tai-yuan (楊 太源), deputy director of the STA’s Research Project on China’s Defense Affairs, among others.
Photo: CNA
The report says that this year’s drills signaled a shift in Taiwan’s defense posture by treating China’s gray zone operations as a precursor to aggression.
Reservist mobilizations were initiated as early as July 5, ahead of the simulations of China’s "gray zone" operations, which began on July 9, the report said.
According to the exercise scenario, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) begins mobilizing for an attack while simultaneously using "gray zone" tactics — provocative or coercive actions that fall short of open conflict — to harass Taiwan.
However, Taiwan, vigilant over the possibility of the PLA pivoting exercises to an attack, responds with wartime deployments.
Another focus of the drills was sustaining operational endurance under combat conditions.
The air force conducted nighttime runway repair exercises at multiple bases, simulating realistic wartime conditions when daytime repairs would be too easily targeted by enemy forces, the report said.
Securing maritime supply lines was also a central theme.
The exercises included a simulation in which naval and air force units escorted cargo ships delivering strategic supplies into Hualien Port.
The report emphasized that in any prolonged conflict, maintaining access to foreign materials and weapons is critical, and such logistics drills are essential to ensure Taiwan’s capacity for sustained resistance.
During the drills, the Marine Corps’ 99th Brigade was redeployed from its home base in southern Taiwan to the north, practicing cross-regional reinforcement maneuvers in the Guandu Plain.
This area was previously defended by the 66th Marine Brigade, which is now undergoing a structural transition into a lighter, more mobile unit, with some forces relocated to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport).
The report argued that the reinforcement drill not only validated cross-regional combat readiness, but also explored the possibility of a permanent redeployment of the 99th Brigade, allowing the 66th Brigade to focus entirely on the defense of Taipei’s urban core.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS