TAIPEI – Taiwan began major military drills on Wednesday to test commanders\u2019 ability to fight on the fly when enemy movements defy expectations, while temporarily limiting internet access for the first time, senior Taiwan officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 10-day annual Han Kuang exercise began early in the morning after an underground command center in Taipei issued the drill order, triggering combat-readiness moves that will include fighter-jet dispersals and emergency naval deployments, two senior Taiwan officials briefed on the matter told Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taiwan will also incorporate for the first time a so-called \u201cbackbrief\u201d approach modeled on U.S. military practice, in which junior officers receiving orders restate mission details to commanders \u2014 a move aimed at improving coordination, the officials added, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move, one of the officials said, is to \u201censure commanders and subordinates are in sync on operational intent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The drill will also focus on a key wartime concern: that China, which claims Taiwan as its own despite the island\u2019s objections, would try to paralyze command centers, ports, logistics and defense industry sites early in an attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China\u2019s defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Held annually since 1984, the drills will include for the first time the deliberate slowing of mobile internet speeds to test how civilians would communicate if bandwidth became scarce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The military will simulate the wartime relocation of a major arsenal, mobilize civilian factories and run escort drills off Taiwan\u2019s Pacific coast, as concern grows that Beijing may be rehearsing how to sever the island\u2019s Pacific supply lines from allies as Chinese military pressure intensifies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese are all part of a series of toughening exercises \u2014 this is no longer a laboratory-like exercise in a vacuum,\u201d said a third senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou are entering a real field environment, facing real bottom-line conditions. We hope the final phase of training reaches that state,\u201d the defense official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is part of Taiwan\u2019s ongoing effort to make its exercises more realistic, following past criticism that some drills were too highly staged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The effort has included resilience drills testing how local officials would keep the government running during cascading crises, from earthquakes to a Chinese invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf the situation does not match the original enemy scenario, what should he do? How should he reassess, readjust, and quickly issue orders?\u201d the defense official said, referring to field commanders who will be tested with \u201cunexpected scenarios\u201d during the drills, which end on Aug. 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The drills will also mobilize more than 20,000 reservists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the sports field of a Taipei high school on Wednesday, dozens of reservists gathered to practice using mortars and taking up rifle positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The military will also introduce an \u201cembedded reporter\u201d mechanism to assess wartime frontline news releases and efforts to counter enemy disinformation, the officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe emphasis will be on how our entire population, the Republic of China as a whole \u2014 especially our citizens \u2014 should face war,\u201d the defense official said, using Taiwan\u2019s official name.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Taiwan began major military drills to test commanders\u2019 ability to fight on the fly while temporarily limiting internet access for the first time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":120800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":45,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[45,160,11,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3870],"class_list":["post-72993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific","category-daily-news-roundup","category-global","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"VJ7WHALKXFCX7E4B27EOX4NOKY","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/asia-pacific\/2026\/08\/05\/taiwan-launches-major-war-games-to-test-command-flexibility\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n