Taiwan aims to learn lessons from Ukraine in annual military drills

Female soldiers from an artillery unit take part in the live-fire military exercise Han Kuang, which simulates the invasion of the island by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China, in Pingtung, Taiwan, on May 30, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

TAIPEI, April 26 (Reuters) – Taiwan will incorporate lessons learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine into its upcoming military exercises aimed at combating a Chinese attack, the island’s defense ministry said on Tuesday.

Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, has raised its alert level since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, wary of the possibility of Beijing making a similar move on the island, although it does not has reported any signs that this is about to happen.

According to Taiwan’s defense minister, the lessons to be learned from the war on how the island could defend itself if China attacked were widely discussed in Taiwan and discussed with the United States. Read more

The Defense Ministry said this year’s Han Kuang drills, Taiwan’s biggest annual war games, would be split into two parts, in May and July.

The May party would partly be a tabletop exercise based on “various possible actions by the Chinese Communist Party in recent years to invade Taiwan, taking into account the lessons of the Russian-Ukrainian war,” he said in a statement. .

There will also be five days of drills with soldiers, including live-fire drills to be held in July, the ministry added.

The Han Kuang exercise will focus on attacking the enemy at sea, preserving combat forces and “integrating the total force of all people to support military operations”, a reference to civil defense and reservist reforms aimed at improving Taiwan’s ability to wage war with China.

While Taiwanese officials saw many parallels between the war in Ukraine and their own situation, including having their own giant neighbor with territorial ambitions, they also pointed to key differences.

Taiwan has spoken, for example, of the “natural barrier” of the Taiwan Strait, which would make sending Chinese troops much more difficult than simply crossing a land border.

China rejected any comparison between Ukraine and Taiwan, saying Taiwan is part of China and not an independent country.

China has intensified its military pressure against Taiwan over the past two years or so.

Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future.

Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel

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