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• Han Kuang drills rehearse invasion fighting

  CRACKING THE CORDON: The exercise assumes the PLA had achieved a blockade that Taiwanese soldiers would seek to break, while laying mines and preparing a larger defense

  • By Chen Yu-fu and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  Taiwanese armed forces are to simulate fighting a Chinese invasion of Taiwan proper and spreading weapons manufacturing across different locations to sustain combat operations in next month’s annual Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.

  Han Kuang 41, this year’s large-scale drills, is to take place from Wednesday next week to Aug. 14, Major General Lu Wen-yuan (呂文元), head of the Joint Operations Division, told a news conference in Taipei.

  The exercise would be comprised of computer-assisted command exercises, the simulated mobilization of troops and key civilian assets, and joint field drills involving all branches of the military and coast guard, he said.

  

  Ministry of National Defense deputy spokesman Major General Chiao Fu-chun speaks during a news conference in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA

  The exercises are to progress through four phases with distinct focuses: prepositioning and deployment of units, force protection and survivability, counter-amphibious assault operations, and defense in sustained conflict, Lu said.

  As with recent iterations of the drills, this year’s Han Kuang is unscripted, he said.

  The initial phase assumes the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) gathered its forces under the guise of a large-scale exercise, triggering Taiwanese mobilization, retraining, access denial preparations, infrastructure hardening and distribution of materiel, he said.

  This stage tests Taiwan’s capability to rapidly transition from peacetime to a war footing, Lu said.

  The exercise further assumes that the PLA would not commit to an invasion unless it has achieved a sea and air blockade of Taiwan and, by implication, the ability to conceal a buildup of amphibious assault forces, he said.

  During this phase, Taiwanese forces would focus on breaking China’s blockade, mobilizing troops, laying mines and other access-denial measures, hardening infrastructure, and preparing to defend key military and political sites, Lu said.

  The navy and coast guard would conduct joint drills using troops, equipment and firepower to simulate operations aimed at keeping sea lanes open and protecting shipments of critical materiel, including by convoy, he said.

  Strategically valuable infrastructure including airports, harbors and road hubs would be hardened or destroyed should they prove impossible to defend to deny the enemy their use, he said.

  That part of the drill would also include relocating the Armaments Bureau’s 202nd Arsenal in Taipei and mobilizing civilian factories for war production after issuing an emergency order, he said.

  The counter-amphibious assault phase of the exercise would simulate PLA joint fire strikes and the use of coordinated naval and airborne forces in amphibious attacks, Lu said.

  Taiwanese forces aim to achieve local air superiority, coordinate the use of air defense and coastal defense systems, contest landing sites, and employ destructive fires in strategically crucial areas, he said.

  The goal is to test the military’s ability to exercise joint warfare command and control, and coordinate firepower across unit boundaries, Lu said.

  The final phase of the exercise presumes that the PLA would break out of their beachheads.

  Taiwanese forces would then conduct a layered defense designed to slow and wear down advancing forces while sustaining a prolonged resistance, Lu said.

  That would involve judicious use of terrain, disruption and attrition tactics, and employing civilians’ capabilities to support military operations, he said.

  Taiwanese forces would train to maneuver in a contested environment in which the threat of enemy fire and special operations attacks are ever-present, he said.

  The Taipei Reserve Brigade and 137 Infantry Brigade would be fully committed to the exercise, progressing from mobilization, formation assembly, pre-combat refresher training and force regeneration, Lu said.

  Hsia Chen-kuo (夏振國), deputy head of the All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency, said that the two brigades’ number about 5,000 military service members, all of whom would be deployed during the exercises.

  Additional reporting by Reuters
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