In a first, Taiwan’s Presidential Office stages war game to simulate China emergency
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Central and local government agencies as well as civil groups participated in the 3-hour exercise.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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TAIPEI - Taiwan’s Presidential Office conducted its first ever tabletop exercise simulating a military escalation with China, several officials briefed on the matter said, at a time when the island is facing renewed Chinese military threats.
Dozens of central and local government agencies as well as civil groups participated in the three-hour exercise on Dec 26, said the sources who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
China has in recent years stepped up military threats, including the large massing of naval forces in December
The war game held inside the Presidential Office in Taipei was led by Vice-President Hsiao Bi-khim and National Security Council secretary-general Joseph Wu, the officials familiar with the meeting told Reuters.
The exercise simulated scenarios including China’s “high intensity” grey-zone warfare as well as when the island is “on the verge of conflict” to test response readiness by Taiwan government offices and civil society, a security official familiar with the matter said.
Responding to the war game held earlier in the day, President Lai Ching-te said Taiwan is “racing against time” to build up its capacity to counter disasters and boost “deterrence against an invading enemy”.
“The peace and stability in the first island chain is being collectively challenged by authoritarian states,” he was quoted as saying, without naming any specific country, in a statement from his office.
The first island chain is a collection of archipelagos running roughly from Indonesia in an arc north-east to Japan, encompassing the South China Sea and East China Sea.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
China has staged two rounds of major exercises around Taiwan in 2024 to pressure Taipei, one in May and another in October, dubbed Joint Sword - 2024A and B, respectively. REUTERS
