Taiwan military drills test drones and blockade response

Taiwan began its largest military drills of the year on Wednesday, August 5, testing troop responses, drone operations, civilian readiness and supply escorts during a simulated Chinese blockade.

The annual Han Kuang exercise runs from August 5 to 14. Defence officials say it stages combat scenarios for troops and reservists to practise responding to an attack on the island.

Dozens of reservists spread out along a beach facing the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday and fired Taiwanese-made assault rifles at targets on a shore where Chinese forces could land during an invasion.

A senior defence official said a key part of this year's exercise is decentralising command and control so commanders and officers on the battlefield can make operational decisions without waiting for orders. The official also said the drills would focus on drone operations involving reconnaissance and attack drones working with other attack methods.

Taiwan will deploy naval and coast guard ships to escort supplies during a simulation of a Chinese blockade in waters east of the island. Defence officials have also said the exercise will assess whether mobilised factories can support wartime production and test the wartime relocation of military and civilian factories.

Civilians will take part in air raid drills and other exercises. Mobile internet speeds will be slowed for 30 minutes during air raid drills in central and northern regions as the government seeks to expose people to communications disruptions. Urban resilience drills will be held at the same time as part of efforts to prepare the island for a possible war or natural disaster.

President Lai Ching-te told a security forum on Tuesday that Taiwan would continue to upgrade national defence and build whole-of-society defence and resilience. Defence Minister Wellington Koo said Wednesday that Taiwan would keep training so it was prepared in peacetime and able to carry out missions in wartime.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize the island of 23 million people. Beijing has increased military pressure in recent years, sending fighter jets and warships around Taiwan almost daily and holding large-scale drills. The Chinese coast guard has also increased grey-zone activities around Taiwan and its outer islands.

Taiwan has increased defence spending and acquired smaller weapons, including drones, for asymmetric warfare. Lai's government has pledged to raise defence spending to five percent of GDP by 2030, but it is in dispute with opposition parties that control parliament over how much to spend.

In May, the KMT and Taiwan People's Party passed a $25 billion special defence budget, cutting by a third the amount sought by Lai's Democratic Progressive Party. The opposition removed about $15 billion that the government had wanted for domestic drone procurement and other defence efforts. Lawmakers are now considering rival drone investment proposals worth billions of dollars.