The annual Han Kuang exercises will this year mobilise the largest number of reservists, some 22,000, and for the first time feature New High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, made by Lockheed Martin, along with Taiwan-developed Sky Sword surface-to-air missiles.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own and has intensified military pressure around the island over the last five years, including a string of war games.
Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control, and any attack on Taiwan could ignite a broader regional war.
As they evolve, the drills will feature 24-hour operations and army, naval and air operations to defend Taiwan coasts.
Civil defence elements will also be tested, including the creation of emergency supply stations as well as the use of Taiwan’s recently-expanded air-raid shelters.
China’s defence ministry said on Tuesday that Taiwan’s Han Kuang military exercises were “nothing but a bluff”.
“No matter what weapons are used, Taiwan can’t resist the People’s Liberation Army’s sharp sword against independence,” ministry spokesperson Jiang Bin was quoted as saying by state broadcaster CCTV.
The Taiwanese senior defence official said they wanted to show China that they faced an unpredictable foe and that any invasion scenario was growing more complex, while showing the international community that Taiwan was determined to defend itself.
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te and his government strongly object to China’s sovereignty claims, saying it is up to the island’s people to decide their future.
Source: CNA
