The commencement yesterday of the live-fire component of the annual Han Kuang military exercises, Taiwan’s major war games involving all military branches, focused on testing the military’s preservation and maintenance of combat capabilities in the event of a full-scale Chinese invasion.
The 39th edition of the annual event officially began at 6am after the Ministry of National Defense’s Joint Operations Command Center, also known as the Hengshan Command Center, announced the initiation of the five-day live-fire drills to test the military’s capability to fend off a Chinese invasion.
As part of the drills, air force fighter jets that were originally deployed in the western part of Taiwan were dispatched to Hualien Air Base in the east early yesterday in a simulation of an invasion, the ministry said.
Photo: Yu Tai-lang, Taipei Times
This was done to make sure the main backbones of the nation’s fighter jets on the west side of Taiwan that is closer to the Chinese mainland would be able to preserve their combat readiness on the eastern part of the nation, it said.
All of the nation’s major naval vessels left their home ports early yesterday and sailed to designated locations off the coast in preparation for confronting enemy forces and to deploy naval mines to slow down an enemy invasion, the ministry said.
Reservists were simultaneously called up by the military and asked to report to designated locations as a preventive measure in anticipation of an enemy invasion, it added.
Photo: CNA
The annual exercises, which have served as Taiwan’s major war games since 1984, consist of live-fire drills and computerized war games, and are meant to test the nation’s combat readiness in the face of a possible Chinese invasion.
This year’s tabletop exercises were staged in May.
The five-day live-fire exercises are to run until Friday.
With Typhoon Doksuri approaching, the military yesterday announced that it had canceled an emergency takeoff and landing drill at the civilian Taitung Fengnian Airport planned for today.
The planned drill at Fengnian, the first of its kind since the airport opened in 1981, would have involved F-16 jets and C-130H Hercules transport aircraft, the ministry said.
The ministry has scheduled an anti-takeover drill for tomorrow at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the country’s primary international gateway.
Should the drill in Taoyuan go ahead as planned, it would be the first time such an exercise would have been held at the nation’s busiest civilian airport.
Military spokesman Major General Sun Li-fang (孫立方) hinted that the ministry could cancel other parts of the Han Kuang exercises due to Typhoon Doksuri, with Taiwan expected to feel its impact tomorrow and on Thursday, the Central Weather Bureau said.
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
MEET AND GREET: The White House, which called the interaction ‘just a handshake,’ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan. During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said. Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is
RSS