The Han Kuang Exercise () is the annual

military exercise A military exercise or war game is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat. This also serves the purpose of ensuring the com ...

of the

Republic of China Armed Forces The Republic of China Armed Forces (ROC Armed Forces) are the armed forces of the Republic of China (ROC), once based in mainland China and currently in its remaining jurisdictions which include the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Penghu The Penghu (, Hokkien POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, located approximately west from the main island of Taiwan, covering an area ...

Kinmen Kinmen, alternatively known as Quemoy, is a group of islands governed as a county by the Republic of China (Taiwan), off the southeastern coast of mainland China. It lies roughly east of the city of Xiamen in Fujian, from which it is separate ...

and Matsu for combat readiness in the event of an attack from the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Overview

The exercise is divided into two phases, which are the ''Command Post Exercise'' (CPX) and the computer-simulated war gaming followed by ''Field Training Exercises'' (FTX). Since at least 2017 the exercise has been fully bilingual with both Mandarin and English being used.

History

1984

The exercise was first held by Army General

Hau Pei-tsun Hau Pei-tsun (, 8 August 1919 – 30 March 2020) was a Mainland Chinese, Chinese politician and military officer who was the Premier of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1 June 1990 to 27 February 1993, and the longest-serving Chief of the Genera ...

(the then Chief of the General Staff) on 23 April 1984.

2000

The 2000 exercise was held on August, focusing on

anti-missile Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception, and also the destruction of attacking missiles. Conceived as a defense against nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), ...

, anti-landing, anti-airborne landing and anti- air raid.

2001

The 2001 exercise was held from 26 March until 28 April.

2006

The 2006 exercise was held at the coastal area of Yilan County, attended by President

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...

and Vice President

Annette Lu Annette Lu Hsiu-lien (; born 7 June 1944) is a Taiwanese politician. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1990, and was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992. Subsequently, she served as Ta ...

and involving around 13,000 servicemen. It was the first time the Patriot-II missiles were deployed.

2008

The 2008 exercise was held on 23–27 June for the computer-simulated war gaming, while the field training exercises were held on 22–26 September.

2011

The 2011 exercise was held on 11–15 April in

Taichung City Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Tai ...

and

Pingtung County Pingtung County is a county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county seat is Pin ...

2012

In the 2012 exercise, President

Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from ...

was out of Taiwan during the drill due to his diplomatic visits to three

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n countries, making the first time of the exercise with the absence of the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

2013

The 2013 5-day exercise was held in April 2013 in

2014

The 2014 exercise was held in

Chiayi County Chiayi County (Mandarin pinyin: ''jiā yì xiàn''; Hokkien POJ: ''Ka-gī-koān'') is a county in southwestern Taiwan surrounding but not including Chiayi City. It is the sixth largest county in Taiwan. Name The former Chinese placename was ...

and

Penghu County The Penghu (, Hokkien POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, located approximately west from the main island of Taiwan, covering an area ...

. Civilian airplanes were used for the first time for personnel transport, carrying military officers and reservists from

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...

to Penghu.

2015

The 2015 exercise consisted of two stages. The first stage was held on 4–8 May 2015, designed to test the military's combat capabilities after undergoing streamlining process end of 2014. The second stage is currently held from 7–11 September 2015 simulating attack from the

. New weapon systems of

Lockheed P-3 Orion The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

(PLA) deploys three

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

stealth aircraft Stealth aircraft are designed to avoid detection using a variety of technologies that reduce reflection/emission of radar, infrared, visible light, radio frequency (RF) spectrum, and audio, collectively known as stealth technology. The F-117 N ...

and missiles. It focused on preserving combat capability using the collected information and surveillance data and countering the

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are le ...

s and landings in Taiwan. The second stage was held on 22–26 May 2017. It included simulations of attacks on

Ching Chuan Kang Air Base Ching Chuan Kang Air Base ( zh, t=清泉崗空軍基地, CCK) is a Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) base located in Taichung, Taiwan. It is the home to the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing, with three squadrons of AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo fi ...

by the PLA to test the ROC armed forces combat and defense capabilities on the coordinated response to simulated threats from the PLA. The exercise included locations such as

and

Taiping Island Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba, and also known by various other names, is the largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The island is elliptical in shape being in length and in width, with an area of . I ...

2018

The 2018 exercise was held on 4 June 2018 for five days. It was proceeded with computer-aided war games on 30 April to 5 May. The exercise consists of several main points, which are joint air-sea combat operation, anti-landing operations and joint anti-airborne combat operations. This exercise was also the first one to include civilian resources in its drill. On the first day of the exercise, an F-16 fighter jet with tail number 6648 went missing at 1:43 p.m. over northern Taiwan after taking off at 1:09 p.m. The aircraft was subsequently found crashed at 4:18 p.m. by

fire fighters A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

after receiving initial reports from a hiker at 3:22 p.m. The

air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

then ordered to temporarily grounded all of F-16 aircraft until further notice pending investigation.

2019

The 2019 exercise started with computer-aided war games between 22–26 April 2019. It then continued with live-fire drills on 27–21 May 2019. The live exercise featured the takeoff and landing exercise of the

Republic of China Air Force The Republic of China Air Force, retroactively known by its historical name the Chinese Air Force and unofficially referred to as the Taiwanese Air Force, is the military aviation branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces, currently based i ...

aircraft on the

Huatan Huatan Township () is a rural township in Changhua County, Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the ...

section of

National freeway 1 National Freeway 1 (), also known as Sun Yat-sen Freeway (), is a freeway in Taiwan, the first freeway built in Taiwan. It begins in Keelung at the intersection of Xiao 2nd Road and Zhong 4th Road and ends in Kaohsiung at the intersection of Zh ...

Changhua County Changhua County (Mandarin Pinyin: ''Zhānghuà Xiàn''; Wade-Giles: ''Chang¹-hua⁴ Hsien⁴''; Hokkien POJ: ''Chiang-hòa-koān'' or ''Chiong-hòa-koān'') is the smallest county on the main island of Taiwan by area, and the fourth smallest ...

2020

The 2020 exercise saw the participation of the

National Police Agency National Police may refer to the national police forces of several countries: *Afghanistan: Afghan National Police *Haiti: Haitian National Police *Colombia: National Police of Colombia *Cuba: Cuban National Police *East Timor: National Police of E ...

’s

Thunder Squad Thunder Squad () is a special services unit of the National Police Agency in Taiwan, a highly trained SWAT unit established in 1985 to conduct high-risk arrests and other dangerous law enforcement duties. This 200 man group is organized into sm ...

and the

Coast Guard Administration The Coast Guard Administration of the Ocean Affairs Council (CGA; ), also known as the Taiwan Coast Guard or R.O.C. Coast Guard, is charged with maintaining law and order, protecting the resources of the territorial waters of the Republic of Chin ...

’s

Special Task Unit The Special Task Unit is a special operations unit of the Coast Guard Administration of Taiwan. Overview The Special Task Unit is an elite special forces, maritime rescue, and counterterrorism unit of the CGA. In 2010 the unit had 52 members ...

for the first time. They participated alongside military special forces units in anti-decapitation drills. During the 2020 exercise a

Ching Chiang-class patrol ship The ''Ching Chiang'' class () is a class of patrol ships/corvettes built by CSBC Corporation, Taiwan, CSBC for the Republic of China Navy. Overview Named after the Jingjiang river in Guangdong, China, this class of vessels were initially equ ...

s with special

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

equipment was used to interfere with the signals collection of Chinese spy ships operating off

Orchid Island Orchid Island, also known by other names, is a volcanic island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan Island. The island is part of Taiwan. It is separated from the Batanes of the Philippines by the Bashi Channel of the Luzon Strait. It is gove ...

References

{{Military of the Republic of China 1984 establishments in Taiwan Military exercises and wargames Military of the Republic of China