Taiwan Starts Annual War Games, Aiming to Closely Mimic Actual Combat

Soldiers take part in the first day of the annual Han Kuang military drills in Taoyuan, Taiwan July 22, 2024. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Soldiers take part in the first day of the annual Han Kuang military drills in Taoyuan, Taiwan July 22, 2024. REUTERS/Ann Wang
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Taiwan Starts Annual War Games, Aiming to Closely Mimic Actual Combat

Soldiers take part in the first day of the annual Han Kuang military drills in Taoyuan, Taiwan July 22, 2024. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Soldiers take part in the first day of the annual Han Kuang military drills in Taoyuan, Taiwan July 22, 2024. REUTERS/Ann Wang

Taiwan started its annual Han Kuang war games on Monday, which this year aim to be as close as possible to actual combat with no script and simulating how to repel a Chinese attack.
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its territory, has been staging regular exercises around the island for four years to pressure Taipei to accept Beijing's claim of sovereignty, despite Taiwan's strong objections, said Reuters.
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.
Kicking off the exercises in the northern city of 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.
Later in the day the military will practice defending a major Taipei port.
On Thursday, 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.
Live fire drills will only take place on Taiwan's outlying islands, including Kinmen and Matsu which sit nestled next to the Chinese coast and were the scene of on-off clashes during the height of the Cold War.
The five-day 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.



EU's Kallas: Russia is Posing an Existential Threat to Our Security

Head of the European Defence Agency (EDA) and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas delivers a keynote speech during the EDA Annual Conference 'New Horizons in EU Defence', in Brussels, Belgium, 22 January  2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
Head of the European Defence Agency (EDA) and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas delivers a keynote speech during the EDA Annual Conference 'New Horizons in EU Defence', in Brussels, Belgium, 22 January 2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
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EU's Kallas: Russia is Posing an Existential Threat to Our Security

Head of the European Defence Agency (EDA) and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas delivers a keynote speech during the EDA Annual Conference 'New Horizons in EU Defence', in Brussels, Belgium, 22 January  2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
Head of the European Defence Agency (EDA) and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas delivers a keynote speech during the EDA Annual Conference 'New Horizons in EU Defence', in Brussels, Belgium, 22 January 2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET

Russia is posing an existential threat to the European Union's security and the only way to address that is to increase spending on defense, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday, adding that the EU had for too long offered Russia alternatives.
"Russia poses an existential threat to our security today, tomorrow and for as long as we underinvest in our defense," she said during a speech at the annual conference of the European Defense Agency (EDA).
"People say I'm a 'Russia hawk'. I think I'm simply realistic about Russia," Reuters quoted Kallas as saying.
Kallas, one of EU's most vocal opponents to Russian President Vladimir Putin, also acknowledged US President Donald Trump was right in saying that EU members don't spend enough on defense.
Trump said earlier this month NATO members should spend 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense – a huge increase from the current 2% goal and a level that no NATO country, including the United States, currently reaches.
"Time is not on Russia's side. But it's not necessarily on ours either. Because we are not yet doing enough. There should be no doubt in any of our minds that we must spend more to prevent war. But we also need to prepare for war," Kallas said.