Taiwan says warning time for a China attack is shrinking

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s military needs to test if it can respond immediately to a war breaking out, as the warning time for any Chinese attack is shortening, Defence Minister Wellington Koo said on Wednesday.

Taiwan is holding five days of “immediate combat readiness” drills this week. Its military has begun basing some of its drills on a scenario in which China suddenly turns one of its regular exercises around the island into an actual attack.

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and its military operates around the island on an almost daily basis. China’s newest aircraft carrier sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday.

The drills put greater emphasis on the ability to respond quickly and rapidly shift into combat readiness, Koo told reporters in parliament.

“It is intended to build the speed we believe is necessary for converting from peacetime to wartime status,” he said.

“In other words, given the current threat situation from the enemy, and as we believe the warning time is shortening, we need to verify that we can respond immediately.”

The exercises also put more emphasis on whether the armed forces can still respond under a decentralised regional command structure, Koo added.

Taiwan holds regular military drills, including some this month, when it fired its new US-made HIMARS rocket system, which is widely used by Ukraine, into the Taiwan Strait.

Its main annual Han Kuang military exercises are expected in August.

Speaking in Beijing later on Wednesday, Zhang Han, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said the drills showed the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) “malicious intent to seek independence by force”.

“In the face of the powerful people’s army, the DPP authorities’ posturing is completely futile; it will only harm and destroy Taiwan and bring about their own destruction,” she said.

Zhang reiterated that Beijing was willing to make the greatest efforts to achieve “peaceful reunification”.

“However, we will never pledge to renounce the use of force, and we will never leave any room for separatist activities seeking Taiwan independence in any form.”

China held its most recent full-scale war games around Taiwan in late December.