Taiwan Holds Largest-Ever Military Drills Amid Growing Tensions with China

Strategic Insights -

Taiwan's annual Han Kuang exercises, which simulate the country's response to a potential attack by China, have kicked off with a record 22,000 reserve soldiers participating. The drills, which will last ten days, aim to measure how quickly and effectively the reservists can switch to military mode and respond to a range of scenarios, including cyber attacks, intrusions of ships and aircraft into Taiwanese airspace, and damage to undersea cables.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Han Kuang exercises will see a record 22,000 reserve soldiers participating, making it the largest-ever military drills in Taiwan.
  • The drills aim to simulate Taiwan's response to a potential attack by China, which claims the island as its own territory and has threatened to use force to "reunify" it.
  • The exercises will include simulations of Chinese militia boats and Coast Guard vessels sailing near the island, as well as the use of advanced technology, including the US-supplied Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (Himars).
  • China significantly exceeds Taiwan across every metric, including the number of tanks, aircraft, and artillery.
  • War game simulations have shown that if Taiwan is forced to face Beijing alone, or if it surrenders before the United States is able to assist, it would be overwhelmed in a very short time.
  • The drills will also include "unscripted" scenarios to test soldiers' response to unexpected attacks, as well as urban resilience preparedness drills, which have been a focus of the current government.
  • China has announced that it will place export controls on eight Taiwanese companies, which it claims are involved in the shipment of dual-use technologies.

Statistics:

  • 22,000 reserve soldiers will participate in the Han Kuang exercises.
  • 180,000 soldiers and 1.67 million reservists make up Taiwan's military force.
  • China has more than 2 million active soldiers and 1.2 million reservists.
  • Taiwan has 6 times fewer tanks and aircraft than China.
  • Taiwan has 5 times fewer artillery than China.

Sources:

  • The Telegraph
  • Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence
  • China's Ministry of National Defence
  • The United States-built Joint Theatre Level Simulation (JTLS) platform