The tabletop portion of Taiwan's largest annual military drills is to be held for 14 days for the second consecutive year, testing the country's all-out defense against China's increasing "gray zone" activities and Beijing’s potential to carry out a full-scale invasion.
The Han Kuang exercises are held annually in two stages.
This year's edition is to begin with tabletop war games, conducted from Saturday next week to April 24, Major General Tung Chi-hsing (董冀星), director of the Ministry of National Defense’s Joint Operations Planning Division told a news conference in Taipei today.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Last year was the first time the tabletop war games lasted two weeks. In 2024, they were held for eight days, while in previous years, the computerized exercises usually lasted five days.
The military last year said that the extension was intended to give the armed forces more time to test their response measures across different scenarios, including situations in which Chinese forces suddenly turn their drills into a full-scale invasion.
The computerized war games would again be conducted using the US-built Joint Theater Level Simulation platform and would be held around the clock to test the ability of the nation as a whole to coordinate and respond to a Chinese invasion, Tung said.
The war games would simulate a scenario in which the People's Liberation Army (PLA) unexpectedly turns military exercises or "gray zone" activities — provocative or aggressive actions that fall just short of open conflict — near Taiwan into a real attack, he said.
As with last year, the tabletop segment of the exercises would be unscripted to test troop emergency response capabilities, with a focus on responses under decentralized command and 24/7 operational conditions, Tung said.
The scenario would also test how the armed forces defend the country if the PLA attempted to seize ports and airports before advancing inland, he added.
In addition to defensive efforts by active-duty troops, the military would also mobilize reserve forces and work with the Central Joint Response Center to practice integrated military-civilian cooperation in repelling intruders, Tung said.
Tung did not announce when the live-fire segment of the 42nd Han Kuang exercises would be held or how long it would last.
Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) earlier this year told reporters that the live-fire exercises, usually staged in the summer, would again run for 10 days and nine nights, as was the case last year.
The annual Han Kuang exercises, which have served as Taiwan's primary war games since 1984, aim to test the country's combat readiness in the face of a possible Chinese invasion.
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