Illustration: Xia Qing/GT

Taiwan authorities launched the annual "Han Kuang" military exercises on Wednesday, once again portraying the drills in some media coverage as a tool for resisting reunification by force. Together with the so-called "Ketagalan Forum" being held on the island, the exercise has become part of a broader narrative hyping an alleged "threat" from the mainland and publicity stunts to indulge Taiwan authorities in wishful thinking.

Mainland experts said the drills are primarily part of a publicity and cognitive-warfare campaign by the Lai Ching-te authorities. They are attempted to reassure "Taiwan independence" separatists and put on a show for pro-separatist forces in the US, while offering little genuine military value. 

The forum, attended largely by former and marginal foreign politicians, serves a similar purpose by helping the Democratic Progressive Party authorities construct an information bubble centered on "Taiwan independence," they noted.

Responding to a question related to the "Han Kuang" exercises at a regular press conference on July 30, China's Ministry of National Defense said the DPP authorities' obstinate adherence to the separatist position of "Taiwan independence" is the greatest scourge to the well-being and livelihoods of people in Taiwan.

"For the selfish interests of one political party, they squander manpower and resources and pursue military buildup, creating anxiety about war and inciting cross-Straits confrontation. They vainly attempt to tie the people of Taiwan to the chariot of 'Taiwan independence.' What awaits them is only the defeat and ruin of 'Taiwan independence,'" the ministry said.

A showpiece exercise

According to Taiwan media reports, this year's "Han Kuang" exercises will run from August 5 to 14 and introduce several new measures.

These reportedly include slowing mobile internet speeds for 30 minutes in designated exercise areas, introducing a US military-style "backbrief" mechanism and mobilizing civilian factories for wartime evacuation exercises.

"The exercises are a political show staged by the DPP," Zhang Junshe, a mainland military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"It is wishful thinking to believe that the Taiwan military, with its current capabilities, could pursue 'independence' by force. But the DPP authorities have run out of ideas. To make separatists feel protected, they have been racking their brains to indulge them in the delusion," Zhang said. 

According to Taiwan media reports, the slowing of mobile internet speeds is intended to test the authorities' emergency response capabilities in the event of network disruptions. The "backbrief" mechanism is designed to ensure that units at all levels remain aligned under a "decentralized command-and-control" structure.

The "backbrief" mechanism is merely a superficial imitation of the US military, Zhang said. It also shows that the separatist forces recognize how vulnerable their command chain would be in a real conflict and how quickly it could be paralyzed following a strike.

Exercises conducted under slowed internet speeds are intended to simulate disrupted communications and prepare the Taiwan military to continue resisting after its command and communications systems are damaged, he said.

The media also claimed that the wartime relocation drill for civilian factories aims to strengthen mechanisms for converting mobilized industrial capacity to military production and to assess how weapons and equipment production and maintenance can be sustained during wartime.

Zhang also criticized the planned evacuation exercises involving civilian factories, saying the Taiwan authorities are attempting to draw civilian industries into military preparations and require factories to manufacture wartime supplies.

Similar exercises previously conducted at hospitals and schools show that the DPP authorities are trying to use ordinary people as shields and cannon fodder for their separatist agenda, he said.

Such drills are also intended to spread fear and hostility toward the mainland by creating the impression that civilian facilities would become targets in a conflict, Zhang added.

Taiwan media also reported that M1A2T tanks will participate in the exercises for the first time, while the region's "littoral combat command" will be incorporated into the drills for the first time.

Zhang said the inclusion of the "littoral combat command" has little practical significance as the island lacks sufficient strategic depth to distinguish meaningfully between inland and coastal zones, all of which fall within the mainland's strike range.

Song Zhongping, another Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday that Taiwan authorities' military capabilities are sufficient only for publicity stunts. Trying to resist reunification by force would be like "a mantis trying to stop a chariot." 

He added that the Taiwan military's overall training standards are poor, with elementary mistakes having become a recurring feature of the annual Han Kuang exercises.

Forum attended by marginal politicians

Alongside the Han Kuang exercises, the Taiwan authorities have also used the so-called Ketagalan Forum to promote hostility toward the mainland and exaggerate ideological confrontation across the Taiwan Straits.

According to the island's authorities, during the forum, Lai met several attending politicians, including former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, former Canadian international trade minister Ed Fast, Eswatini Prime Minister Russell Dlamini, US House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman emeritus Michael McCaul, former Canadian deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland and Gen Nakatani, a Japanese co-chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.

Zheng Jian, a professor at the Graduate Institute for Taiwan Studies at Xiamen University in East China's Fujian Province, told the Global Times that the DPP authorities have spent heavily to invite former or marginal politicians to endorse them. "Once these individuals accept the benefits offered by the Taiwan authorities, they are naturally expected to say what the authorities want to hear," Zheng said.

Many of the politicians Lai met are former officials who no longer represent the governments of their respective countries, Zheng noted. 

He noted that political leaders from both developed countries and the Global South have visited the Chinese mainland in a steady stream since the beginning of the year.

Against that backdrop, Lai's claims of broad "international support" amount to self-deception and are part of a cognitive-warfare campaign directed at people on the island, Zheng said.

According to the Taiwan-based media, Lai also claimed on Wednesday that the island's defense spending this year had exceeded 3 percent of its GDP and was expected to reach 5 percent by 2030. 

Zheng said the DPP authorities' continued increases in military spending place a heavy burden on the people of Taiwan while seeking to align the island more closely with the US defense strategy.

"The Taiwan authorities cannot resist reunification by force. Should separatists persist in pursuing their reckless course, they should not expect their so-called allies, including the US and Japan, to intervene and save them," he added.

Earlier, on July 29, Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said the DPP authorities had disregarded the mainstream public desire on the island for peace, development, exchanges and cooperation, when asked to respond to remarks made by Lai while attending a commissioning ceremony for the "Danjiang" vessel.

"Their attempt to 'resist reunification by force' is a complete overestimation of their own capabilities and will only push Taiwan toward disaster," Chen said, adding that "the trend toward national reunification is mighty and unstoppable. Any act that goes against this trend is doomed to fail."