Taiwan’s 14-day war game preparing for ‘worst case scenario’ amid invasion fears as China masses warships, jets & barges
TAIWAN has launched 14 days of war games to prepare for the “worst case scenario” as tensions with China reach boiling point.
The war games come amid fears that China will invade the island as it assembles vast numbers of warships, jets and barges.
The war games are part of Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang series of military exercises that put the island’s defence capabilities to the test.
The computer drills will use the US-built Joint Theater Level Simulation platform to simulate Taiwan’s “worst case scenario” – a full-scale assault on the island by China.
The drills will also simulate “grey zone” activities which are aggressive attacks just short of a full-scale invasion.
And they will likely feature new weapons acquired by the island including M1A2T tanks, HIMARS rocket systems, and land-based anti-ship missile systems.
The computer drills will be followed by live-fire drills – scheduled for ten day in July.
Taiwan’s Minister of National Defense Minister Wellington Koo said this year’s exercises are based on a hypothetical invasion by China in 2027.
Institute for National Defense Security Research expert Su Tzu-yun said the purpose of the drills is to assess any shortcomings in Taiwan’s readiness for war.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu said that the public used to think that a strike by China would likely come in the form of a missile attack.
But now it seems more likely involve maritime militia vessels, sand dredgers and drones.
Tzu-yun warned that this kind of attack could be even more deadly.
He said that when China is conducting naval and air patrols around Taiwan it normally deploys around six to ten warships.
And if each of these were equipped with vertical launching systems, there could be about 500 land-attack cruise missiles ready to strike targets across Taiwan in just three minutes.
The war games come after China conducted two days of large-scale exercises, including live-fire drills, around Taiwan.
Satellite pictures from the Chinese drills revealed huge hybrid vessels lining up to form a floating bridge during the drills.
The specialised barges connect to form a continuous bridge along which invading ground vehicles such as tanks could trundle ashore.
Huge retractable legs anchor the barges to the seabed like stilts.
Some experts have doubted whether China would be able to cross the Taiwan Strait with sufficient speed and numbers for an invasion.
But this new system is the latest effort to make it possible – and sparked fresh fears that China is gearing up for an attack.
Taiwan has previously accused China of using generative AI to ramp up disinformation against Taiwan.
The island believes the Chinese leader is using the technology to “divide” its population.
And Beijing has already shown signs of preparations for a potential war.
The intensive work going on in Chinese shipyards suggests China is planning a massive amphibious assault.
China is building at least five of the giant troop-carrying barges, according to satellite imagery and military sources.
These massive barges are capable of delivering fleets of tanks and the 1.2 million troops experts calculate Beijing would need to invade Taiwan.
The purpose-built bridges resemble the floating Mulberry Harbours used by Allied forces during the D-Day landings in June 1944.
Beijing is also building its largest-ever aircraft carrier – capable of launching war jets from four runways at the same time.
China is already engaged in what experts call a “war of words” against Taiwan.
In his New Year’s address, President Xi said that the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family.
He has previously called the independence of Taiwan a futile effort and that annexation by Beijing is a “historical inevitability”.
Why does China want to invade Taiwan?
TAIWAN insists it is an independent nation after splitting from mainland China amid civil war in 1949.
But China claims Taiwan remains a part of its territory with which it must eventually be reunified – and has not ruled out the use of force to take the island and place it under Beijing’s control.
The island, which is roughly 100 miles from the coast of south-east China, sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leaders.
Taiwan sits in the so-called “first island chain”, which includes a list of US-friendly territories that are crucial to Washington’s foreign policy in the region.
This also puts it in an ideal situation to slow a Chinese attack on the West.
And with tensions between the two nations high, Taiwan is likely to aid China’s enemy if it means keeping its independence.
Taiwan’s economy is another factor in China’s desperation to reclaim the land.
If China takes the island, it could be freer to project power in the western Pacific and rival the US, thanks to much of the world’s electronics being made in Taiwan.
This would allow Beijing to have control over an industry that drives the global economy.
China insists that its intentions are peaceful, but President Xi Jinping has also used threats towards the small island nation.