Amid Tensions, Taiwan's Annual War Games To Feature Scenarios Of Defying Chinese Blockade, Sudden Attack Response

Taiwan's annual war games this year will focus on simulating scenarios such as breaking a blockade at sea and responding to a potential Chinese attack during its regular drills around the island, as per a report by The Economic Times.

China considers Taiwan its territory and has been conducting regular exercises around the island to pressure Taipei into accepting its sovereignty claim, despite Taiwan's objections.

The main annual Han Kuang exercises, starting this month with table-top drills, will be extended to eight days from the usual five to accommodate a variety of scenarios. Actual combat exercises will follow in July, the ministry said.

Tung Chih-hsing, head of the ministry's joint combat planning department, stated at a news briefing that the drills would focus on rapidly responding to a potential Chinese attack during its drills, a scenario that military planners have started to consider due to their regular occurrence.

Another key focus will be on how different branches of the armed forces can coordinate a response to a Chinese blockade, Tung added.

The drills will involve integrating naval, air, and coast guard forces, as well as shore-mounted anti-ship weapons and drones, to establish a maritime "attack and kill chain", he explained.

Tung also mentioned that naval, air, and coast guard forces would conduct joint escort operations to ensure that sea and air links to the outside world remain open.

During a major round of war games around Taiwan in April last year, China practised precision strikes and blockading the island.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine two years ago, Taiwan has been examining lessons from that conflict to incorporate into its own exercises, particularly how the smaller Ukrainian forces were able to resist the larger Russian military.

Tung stated that these lessons would be incorporated into this year's exercises, along with insights from the war in Gaza.

Regarding these conflicts, Tung noted that officials would focus on the use of psychological warfare and asymmetric operations, although he did not provide specific details on how they would be integrated into the drills.

President Tsai Ing-wen has advocated for the concept of "asymmetric warfare" to enhance Taiwan's defence capabilities, making its forces more mobile and difficult to target, for example, through the use of vehicle-mounted missiles and drones.