Taiwan says to keep Ukraine lessons in mind during annual wargame

As the military announced a July date for its "Han Kuang" (Han Glory) wargames, commanders made clear the conflict in Ukraine would factor into the exercises

Taiwan's military on April 27 said it was learning lessons from Russia's war against Ukraine as it unveiled plans for its annual military exercise that simulates defending the island from Chinese attacks.

The island's 23 million people live under constant threat of an invasion by China, which views the self-ruled democratic island as part of its territory to be re-taken one day, by force if necessary.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has heightened fears that Beijing might similarly one day follow through on threats to annex its smaller neighbour. As the military announced a July date for its "Han Kuang" (Han Glory) wargames, commanders made clear the conflict in Ukraine would factor into the exercises.

"The Defence Ministry is closely monitoring, researching and analysing regarding the war between Russia and Ukraine as well as the Communist military's movements," Major-General Lin Wen-huang told reporters, referring to the mainland Chinese army.

"We will take reference of the lessons from the Russian-Ukrainian war to continue to improve our capabilities in asymmetric warfare, cognitive warfare, electronic warfare and the reserve force," added Lin, head of a military division on joint operations.

“Han Kuang” will be divided into a tabletop exercise next month simulating “all possible actions [China] could take to invade Taiwan” and a five-day drill in July,” according to the Defence Ministry.

One of its objectives is to bolster capabilities to attack the enemy at sea, with naval vessels, warplanes, troops and the coastguard staging a live-fire "joint interception operation". Taiwan and mainland China are separated by the Taiwan Strait, a narrow waterway that Beijing claims as its own.