Taiwan initiated its 10-day Han Kuang military exercises this week across various locations on the island, designed to evaluate defense capabilities against a potential Chinese invasion and test responses to military tactics that fall short of direct conflict. The drills will assess the Taiwanese military’s capacity to maintain round-the-clock defensive operations while addressing what Chinese forces describe as “gray-zone tactics.” Civil defense components will include urban resilience exercises in the major cities of Kaohsiung, Taichung, and Taipei, where mobile internet speeds will be temporarily reduced to simulate potential telecommunications disruptions during a conflict scenario.
This year’s iteration of the exercises represents an expansion compared to previous years, with organizers mobilizing the largest contingent of reserve military personnel to date—more than 5,000 service members across two brigades, compared to approximately 3,000 in the previous cycle. The drills will evaluate how quickly reserve forces can transition from peacetime status to active deployment. A significant operational focus involves implementing new communication protocols modeled after U.S. military practices, specifically backbriefing procedures in which subordinate officers articulate their tactical approaches to commanding officers. These communication enhancements are intended to increase autonomy and combat effectiveness among frontline personnel.
The exercises will incorporate military hardware recently acquired from the United States, including M1A2T Abrams tanks from a batch of 108 units procured in 2019, with the final shipment arriving in April. Taiwan sources the majority of its weapons systems from the United States, its primary informal security partner amid ongoing territorial assertions from China. Beijing characterizes the self-governed democratic island as a breakaway province subject to forced reunification and has conducted sustained military operations in recent years, including near-daily deployments of aircraft and naval vessels in proximity to Taiwan.
Paralleling the military exercises, Taiwan’s parliament recently approved a supplementary defense budget of $24.8 billion for American weapons purchases, below President Lai Ching-te’s requested $40 billion allocation. The island is awaiting U.S. approval of a $14 billion weapons sale package that has faced delays spanning several months. The U.S. Congress and President Trump previously endorsed an $11 billion arms package, described as record-breaking in scope, though Trump has recently characterized arms sales to Taiwan as a negotiating instrument with Beijing following a May visit to China.
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