TAIPEI, Taiwan – Against a backdrop of persistent cross-strait military tension, Taiwan launched a five-day intensive Immediate Combat Readiness Exercise on Monday, focused on sharpening the island’s ability to respond to potential sudden military aggression from mainland China. The drill got underway with visible activity across Taoyuan, the city that hosts Taiwan’s busiest international gateway, Taoyuan International Airport. Visual evidence from the exercise shows main battle tanks maneuvering along public urban streets and major highways, as armored detachments from the Army’s 269th Infantry Brigade carried out combat readiness patrols through the morning hours.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense announced the drills in a public statement released Sunday afternoon, outlining that the training is structured around realistic, real-world scenarios, with core priorities placed on “real-time response, live-fire operations, and on-site tactical execution.” Per Taiwan’s semi-official Central News Agency, the exercise series is specifically designed to simulate the strategic period immediately preceding an enemy’s large-scale amphibious assault. Looking ahead, the exercise framework also leaves room for unscheduled, ad-hoc drill sessions that will test Taiwan’s military’s ability to adapt in real time to ongoing Chinese military activities near the island.
The drills come as China continues its steady pattern of so-called “grey-zone” military pressure against Taiwan, a set of aggressive actions that stop short of full-scale direct conflict. These tactics range from sustained naval patrols near Taiwan’s territorial waters to repeated drone incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone. In the 24-hour period from Sunday to Monday morning alone, Taiwan’s defense ministry confirmed that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) deployed 23 aircraft toward the Taiwan area, alongside seven PLA Navy vessels and five additional Chinese government ships.这种持续的常态压力已经成为 daily reality: Chinese military aircraft, drones, and naval vessels conduct operations near the island on a near-daily basis.
This drill is the latest in a series of regular readiness exercises Taiwan has held to upgrade its defense capabilities, as the island faces unrelenting military pressure from Beijing. China claims the self-governing island of Taiwan as an inalienable part of its sovereign territory, and has repeatedly refused to rule out the use of military force to achieve unification. Earlier this June, Taiwan held another major exercise that marked the first time the island has conducted live rocket fire drills toward waters off the coast of mainland China as part of its training.
The report was filed by Wu reporting from Bangkok, Associated Press.