Taiwan starts annual war games, simulating how to repel a Chinese attack

Taiwan has begun a five-day military exercise, which this year aims to be as close as possible to actual combat.

Reuters reported that the exercise would simulate repelling attacks from the People’s Republic of China.

Taiwan’s drills this year have canceled elements that were mostly for show, like scripted firepower displays, while there will be intensified nighttime exercises and practicing how to operate with severed command lines.

On July 22, at the mouth of the Tamsui River leading to Taipei, soldiers of the Republic of China practiced laying mines to delay the landing of enemy troops to capture the capital.

Earlier on Monday in nearby Taoyuan, outside of Taipei and home to Taiwan’s main international airport, reservists gathered to get their orders as they would during a war, and civilian vans were pressed into service to carry supplies.

On the morning of Thursday, July 25, Taoyuan airport will close for an hour in the morning for the drills, though a typhoon is expected to be impacting the island that day meaning that the exercise could be delayed.

The drill scenarios this week include setting up contingency command lines after existing hubs are destroyed and dispersing Chinese forces trying to land on Taiwan’s western coastline.

Live fire drills will only take place on Taiwan’s outlying islands, including Kinmen and Matsu.

The war games will be happening in conjunction with the Wan’an civil defense drills, where the streets of major cities are evacuated for half an hour during a simulated Chinese missile attack, and test warning alarms will sound on mobile phones.

In May, the U.S. Department of State accused China of military provocations for conducting large-scale military exercises in the South China Sea around the island of Taiwan.

111 aircraft and dozens of naval ships of the People’s Liberation Army surrounded the island of the Republic of China.

Beijing has expressed dissatisfaction with the new government in Taipei, accusing Lai of seeking independence and destabilizing the region.