Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, and top officials recently practiced how they would respond to an attempted ‘decapitation strike,’ an operation to take out the island’s leadership. This drill was part of the 10-day Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military drills.

Drill Details

An armored personnel carrier whisked President Lai and members of his staff from their offices in the capital Taipei to a fortified command center near the Defense Ministry. The drill, dubbed the ‘Wan Chun,’ simulates the evacuation of Taiwan’s leader to a safe place in the event of war or other emergencies.

The global security situation has brought new urgency to the Taiwanese exercises this year, following the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and the US-Israeli decapitation strikes on Tehran’s leadership.

China’s Military Exercises

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has vowed to bring Taiwan under the party’s control and has not ruled out the use of force to do so. China has been keeping constant pressure on the democratic island with its own military exercises and gray-zone activities.

Taiwanese troops also practiced defending the Danjiang Bridge, a critical chokepoint that could give Chinese forces a shortcut to capture Taipei. The bridge, which opened earlier this year, is strategically significant due to its proximity to the Taipei port and beaches in Taiwan that could serve as a valuable staging area for the Chinese military.

Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.