Taiwan began its largest annual military exercises today as the island seeks to prepare its population for a potential Chinese invasion, AFP reported.
The "Han Quan" exercises, which will last until August 14, include realistic combat scenarios so that troops and reservists can practice responding to an attack on the island, defense officials said. One of the main focuses this year is the decentralization of command and control, which will allow commanders and officers on the battlefield to make operational decisions without waiting for orders from above.
Citizens will also be in test mode — including temporary slowdowns in mobile internet and air-raid drills.
Dozens of reservists today lined up on a beach overlooking the Taiwan Strait and held practice shooting with Taiwanese-made assault rifles.
China considers Taiwan its territory and has repeatedly threatened to use force to annex the democratically self-governing island of more than 23,000 people. Beijing deploys ships, fighter jets and coast guard personnel around Taiwan almost daily, demonstrating its claims to sovereign rights over the island, which Taipei rejects.
The Chinese coast guard has also stepped up its use of "gray zone tactics" - coercive actions that do not constitute an act of war - around Taiwan and its outlying islands.
"As the authoritarianism of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) continues to expand, the red terror is spreading around the world," Taiwanese President William Lai said at a security forum on the eve of the exercises. "We will continue to strengthen our national defense and work on our defense and resilience, and I am talking about the entire public here," he added.
Under pressure from the United States, which wants the island to invest more in its security, Taiwan has increased its defense spending and acquired more compact and maneuverable weapons, including drones, to allow the army to wage an asymmetrical war against China, AFP recalls.