Recently, the Taiwan military held the "Han Kuang military exercise" on the island, which aroused the attention of both sides of the strait. The annual Han Kuang exercise began on July 22, followed by the Wanan military exercise the following day. Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao reported that the Wanan drill held on July 23 simulated the escape plan of residents after Taiwan was hit by an air raid, which caused Taipei and other counties and cities to actually shut down for half an hour.
Reuters and Taiwan media reported that the Wanan exercise began at half past one in the afternoon of the same day, and after the piercing sirens sounded, the moving vehicles parked on the side of the road as required, and the personnel on the vehicles got out of the vehicles and took refuge in the nearest air defense facilities under the command of the personnel on duty. To simulate reducing the risk of being attacked at night, some stores also pull down their blinds to turn off their lights. It wasn't until half an hour later that the sirens sounded that the drill ended. Like the Han Kuang exercise, Taiwan has held an annual Wanan exercise since 1978, but the exercise mainly involves civil defense. Seven counties and cities in northern Taiwan participated in the exercise on Tuesday, including Yilan County, Keelung City, Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Hsinchu County and Hsinchu City.
During the exercise, the Taiwan authorities will send a text message to the public through the "air threat warning system." The content of the newsletter generally includes reminding the people of Taiwan that an area will be attacked by an air raid and reminding them to evacuate, and it also includes a link to the website where the air defense and refuge facilities are located, as well as the contact numbers of Taiwan's defense departments and police departments. And for those who do not cooperate with the control and drills, a fine of up to NT$150,000 will be imposed. It is worth noting that in this VIE exercise, a simulated missile attack was added. Simulating a drill in which Taiwan's firefighting, police and civil defense units went all out to rescue after the attack.
Jiang Wanan also issued a statement, stressing that "we should not be afraid that the enemy will not come, but that we should wait for him" and that "we should be lenient in anticipation of the enemy and strict in resisting the enemy" in order to be fully prepared for the occurrence of various situations. He also reminded the public to heed the reminders of the local government and act in accordance with the Civil Protection Law. Penalties for non-compliance can be very high.
As for the Han Kuang exercise, which was held at the same time, it was a joint combat exercise of the three armed services of Taiwan. However, due to the approach of the typhoon, the content of the drill was reduced. The Air Force's anti-air landing drills and anti-landing drills scheduled for Taoyuan and Hualian have been suspended. Sun Lifang, spokesman for Taiwan's defense department, also said that due to the impact of the typhoon, the content of the sea and air drills in eastern Taiwan will be adjusted according to the situation. The chief of the general staff of the former military has claimed that in recent years, the PLA may "switch from exercise to war," that is, suddenly launch a surprise attack on Taiwan. Therefore, one of the key points of the Han Kuang exercise in July this year was that the Taiwan military should be able to quickly change from a peacetime state to a wartime state. In addition, the PLA will adjust its operational thinking in light of the growth of its combat strength and possible actions.
It is worth noting that Lai Qingde also rushed to Hualien's air force units participating in the exercise on 23 June to inspect it. During this period, he claimed that the Taiwan military would punish the situation with the status quo and design a continuous scenario and auxiliary situation day and night from the perspective of actual combat, so as to induce officers and men to conduct 24-hour uninterrupted drills. He claimed that after seeing the results of the exercise and the high morale of the officers and men participating in the exercise, he affirmed the spirit of everyone being ready to defend Taiwan at any time. I thank you for your efforts and dedication, and I hope that the Taiwan military will continue to improve its combat strength. It is not only necessary to reassure the Taiwan people, but also to let the world see the determination of the Taiwan military to protect Taiwan.
In fact, Trump, who was expected to return to the White House, asked Taiwan to pay "protection money" in an interview. This has already caused a shock on the island. Seeing that they have lost support, the "Taiwan independence" forces can only grit their teeth and claim that they want to defend themselves. At this time, intensifying combat readiness drills is actually a demonstration of determination to the people of Taiwan. However, what is embarrassing is that in the Han Kuang drill of the Taiwan military, the first important item to be practiced is to evacuate the Taiwan troops to a safe area. Although it was an escape, in order to listen to the Taiwanese army, it was called "combat power preservation". It can be seen from this that the Taiwan military at least has doubts about its own combat strength, let alone reassuring the people.