TAIPEI: Taiwan kicked off its largest military drills Wednesday with regular troops joined by a record mobilization of reservists for 10 days of training aimed at defending against a Chinese invasion.<\/p>\n
The annual \u201cHan Kuang\u201d exercises, which are being held at the same time as civilian defense drills, will run from July 9-18 and feature newly delivered US high-tech rocket systems.<\/p>\n
The self-ruled island democracy faces the constant threat of an invasion by China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it.<\/p>\n
Chinese military pressure has intensified in recent years, with Beijing deploying fighter jets and warships around the island on a near-daily basis.<\/p>\n
In the lead-up to the drills Wednesday, Taiwan detected 31 sorties by Chinese military aircraft and seven warships around the island in the 24 hours to 6:00 am (2200 GMT Tuesday), according to the defense ministry.<\/p>\n
Taiwan has boosted defense spending and acquired smaller and more nimble weaponry, including drones, to enable its military to wage asymmetric warfare against its more powerful foe.<\/p>\n
Twenty-two thousand reservists \u2014 the largest ever call-up \u2014 are participating in this year\u2019s drills, having begun a training program Saturday.<\/p>\n
Reservist training includes familiarization with rifles, squad and platoon machine guns, and tactical maneuvers.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause these reservists have been discharged and away for a long time, upon return they need to undergo specialty refresher training,\u201d said an army officer who asked not to be named.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, reservists wearing camouflage uniforms, helmets and boots were put through their paces, practicing cleaning, assembling and aiming 65K2 rifles and machine guns.<\/p>\n
Taipei is eager to show the world, especially its key security backer Washington, that it is serious about boosting its military capability.<\/p>\n
The drills will \u201clet the international community know that we are determined to defend ourselves, and to pass on to China that the nation\u2019s military has the confidence and ability to defend a free and democratic life,\u201d Taiwanese Defense Minister Wellington Koo said recently.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s drills have been extended to 10 days and nine nights, from five days and four nights last year.<\/p>\n
The Han Kuang began in 1984 when the island was still under martial law.<\/p>\n
Troops will simulate various scenarios including \u201cgrey zone harassment\u201d \u2014 tactics that fall short of an act of war \u2014 as well as \u201clong-range precision strikes\u201d to combat a Chinese invasion in 2027, defense officials have said.<\/p>\n
Officials in the United States \u2014 Taipei\u2019s biggest arms supplier \u2014 have previously cited 2027 as a possible timeline for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.<\/p>\n
Recently delivered High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) from the United States will be used during the drills.<\/p>\n
There will also be a separate live fire event involving US-made advanced M1A2 Abrams tanks.<\/p>\n
Taiwanese defense officials have been closely monitoring the war in Ukraine and their use of a decentralized command and control structure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we think practically about combat, we consider what kind of scenario Taiwan might face,\u201d a senior defense official said on the eve of the drills.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommanders at all levels need to be able to decide what to do based on their understanding of their superior\u2019s intent. This usually requires peacetime training to build up their awareness in this regard.\u201d<\/p>\n
The exercises are being held as President Lai Ching-te, who is a staunch defender of Taiwan\u2019s sovereignty, tours the island delivering speeches aimed at \u201cuniting the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
China has carried out several large-scale military drills around Taiwan since Lai took office last year, as the island rejects China\u2019s sovereignty stance.<\/p>\n
China specialists at risk analysis firm Eurasia Group said Beijing was \u201clikely\u201d to carry out more military exercises at the end of July.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TAIPEI: Taiwan kicked off its largest military drills Wednesday with regular troops joined by a record mobilization of reservists for 10 days of training aimed at defending against a Chinese invasion. The annual \u201cHan Kuang\u201d exercises, which are being held at the same time as civilian defense drills, will run from July 9-18 and feature …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":83478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83468"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83481,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83468\/revisions\/83481"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}