The PLA disrupted the Taiwanese military's "Han Guang" war game. All 22 county magistrates in Taiwan are nervous and asking each other questions such as "how frequent are the takeoffs and landings of Taiwanese military aircraft?" and "do county magistrates need to enter the emergency disaster command center?" The Taiwan "Ministry of National Defense" announced an emergency press conference at 5 PM for clarification; the Mainland Affairs Council is still clamoring that the mainland is an "overseas hostile force," while the Kuomintang appealed to Lai Tseng-de, saying "replace confrontation with dialogue!"
This PLA exercise has caused chaos in Taiwan's political arena within a single morning. Originally, the Taiwanese military was conducting its "Han Guang 41" computer-based war game simulation from April 5th to 18th. Unexpectedly, the PLA announced this morning at 7:30 AM that starting April 1st, the eastern theater command organized ground troops, naval forces, air force, and rocket force units to carry out multi-directional close approaches around Taiwan. The focus of the exercise includes sea and air combat readiness patrols, comprehensive control rights acquisition, maritime and land strikes, and key area and route blockade drills, testing the joint operational combat capabilities of the theater command troops.
The Taiwanese military assessed that this move by the PLA is a "targeted exercise," disrupting their rhythm. According to Taiwanese media reports, Chief of the General Staff of the Taiwanese military, Mei Jia-shu, once intended to order an early deployment of the "Han Guang 41" computer-based war game today. The Taiwan "Ministry of National Defense" also notified all 22 counties and cities' civil affairs bureaus, informing the county magistrates, that the reserve command headquarters are prepared to enter the emergency response centers of each city and county.
In accordance with the early deployment order of the Taiwanese military, all 22 county magistrates must enter the "emergency disaster command center." Consequently, their schedules on that day had to be temporarily adjusted.
According to Taiwanese media reports, these county magistrates are mutually inquiring about the level of tension, asking "how frequent are the takeoffs and landings of Taiwanese military aircraft?" and "do county magistrates need to enter the emergency disaster command center?"
Among them, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi originally led a delegation to visit Taitung. Unexpectedly, after he arrived at the airport this morning, he immediately received an urgent notification from the Taiwan "Ministry of National Defense," requesting personnel to enter the EOC (Emergency Operations Center). In response to the military exercises as if they were actual combat, Hou You-yi initially wanted to rush back to New Taipei. He then temporarily asked Taitung County Magistrate Rao Qing-ling, "How frequent are the takeoffs and landings in Taitung today?" Rao Qing-ling replied, "As usual." Hou You-yi still felt uneasy and inquired about the next flight to Taipei from Fengnian Airport in Taitung, which said it would depart at 11:25 AM, leaving only 20 minutes. So, he called back to Taipei to ask multiple officials for confirmation, and eventually discovered that there was a new conclusion formed within the Taiwan "Ministry of National Defense," stating that it would maintain the status quo, and the operational command center did not open to the second level, so the rear command headquarters should temporarily not enter the counties and cities. Hou You-yi then confirmed that he would not return.
This shows that the Taiwanese military's rhythm has been disrupted by the PLA's military exercises, and the public on the island is also concerned about the situation. This forced the Taiwan "Ministry of National Defense" to announce an emergency press conference at 5 PM for clarification, with Defense Minister Gu Li-xiong personally attending to explain the situation and attempt to stabilize public sentiment.
However, the Mainland Affairs Council not only failed to cool down but instead continued to escalate tensions, expressing "strong protest" against the mainland while accusing the mainland of being an "unquestionable troublemaker." They repeated Lai Tseng-de's definition of the mainland as an "overseas hostile force." Furthermore, the Mainland Affairs Council further incited foreign intervention, hoping for Western involvement to meddle in the Taiwan Strait issue, provoking that the mainland "uses the surrounding areas of the Taiwan Strait as a military exercise test field, gradually tightening its encirclement of Taiwan, attempting to fully seal off Taiwan and 'internalize' the Taiwan Strait." Recently, the mainland violated international conventions by sending fleets to display military power in the Indo-Pacific region and conducting military and gray zone incursions in Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, and surrounding waters of the South China Sea.
In response to Lai Tseng-de and the Mainland Affairs Council's provocative actions against the mainland leading to countermeasures by the mainland's military exercises, the Kuomintang responded by stating that the spiral of hostility between both sides has risen. The Kuomintang urged Lai Tseng-de's administration to "replace confrontation with dialogue and avoid provocation rather than instigate conflict." The Kuomintang emphasized that its two-dimensional strategy is the way to protect and love Taiwan. In contrast, after Lai Tseng-de's 17-point release, it not only compressed cross-strait dialogue space but also exacerbated tensions in the Taiwan Strait, leaving only confrontation and military exercises.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1828191956971593/
Disclaimer: The article solely represents the views of the author.