Taiwan launches annual Han Kuang military drills with new internet disruption tests amid China tensions

Taiwan launched its 10-day Han Kuang military drills on August 5, 2026, simulating responses to a potential Chinese invasion. Amid daily military pressure from Beijing, the exercises introduce unscripted combat scenarios, U.S.-style communication methods, and a temporary 30-minute slowdown of mobile internet to test civilian resilience. The drills mobilize over 5,000 reservists and feature newly acquired American M1A2T Abrams tanks, highlighting Taiwan's push for asymmetric defense capabilities despite domestic political disputes that recently slashed President Lai Ching-te's proposed defense budget to $24.8 billion.

Han Kuang military drills

• ▪Taiwan began its 10-day annual Han Kuang military exercises on August 5, 2026, to simulate responses to a potential Chinese invasion.
• ▪The Han Kuang exercises incorporate a U.S.-style backbrief communication method where junior officers restate mission details to commanders to ensure operational alignment.
• ▪The Han Kuang drills test commanders with unexpected, unscripted battlefield scenarios to evaluate their ability to make rapid, decentralized decisions.

China military pressure on Taiwan

• ▪China claims Taiwan as its territory, has never renounced the use of force to control it, and deploys military aircraft and warships near the island almost daily.
• ▪The Chinese coast guard has increased grey zone activities, which fall short of open warfare, around Taiwan and its outer islands.

Whole-of-society defence preparations

• ▪The Han Kuang exercises mobilize more than 5,000 reservists across two brigades, representing the largest team of reservists mobilized for the drills compared to 3,000 in the previous year.
• ▪Taiwanese drills simulate the wartime relocation of military and civilian factories, the relocation of a major arsenal, and the mobilization of factories to support wartime production.
• ▪Taiwanese authorities are temporarily slowing mobile internet speeds for 30 minutes during air raid drills to test civilian communication during simulated telecommunications interference.

Taiwan defence spending debate

• ▪President Lai Ching-te's administration has pledged to increase Taiwan's national defense spending to five percent of its gross domestic product by 2030.
• ▪Taiwan's parliament approved a $24.8 billion supplementary defense budget, which fell short of President Lai Ching-te's proposed $40 billion budget after opposition parties slashed funding.
• ▪Taiwan is waiting for the United States to approve a delayed $14 billion arms sale package, following a previously approved $11 billion package.

Asymmetric warfare capabilities

• ▪Taiwan has increased defense spending to acquire smaller, nimbler weapons like reconnaissance and attack drones to wage asymmetric warfare against China.
• ▪Taiwan's military exercises feature newly acquired American-made M1A2T Abrams tanks, the final batch of which arrived in Taiwan in April 2026.