Taiwan’s military is practicing how to respond to a sudden increase in aggressive Chinese activity, part of a new kind of training that mobilizes soldiers as quickly as possible.
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00:00Taiwan's skies, under the watchful eye of a high-tech air defense system, and at a temple
00:11in northern Taiwan, armored vehicles and tanks prepare for their next move.
00:15These are just parts of Taiwan's rapid response exercise, a five-day drill that tests how
00:20quickly the military can mobilize.
00:22Since they will be moving from place to place, we can also move from place to place.
00:26Moving from place to place means that you have to use this kind of supervisory system
00:32to show the people the strength of the troops.
00:36In fact, the people will be more interested.
00:38The exercises, the first of their kind, are meant to simulate what to do if aggressive
00:42Chinese military activity turns into an actual attack.
00:47In response, China, which seeks to control Taiwan, has already conducted two combat patrols,
00:52using dozens of military aircraft to monitor what the military here is doing.
00:57Taiwan's defense minister says that despite the added pressure, the increase in military
01:02activity could be an important lesson.
01:04The backup supervisory system will make a status update and then release it.
01:11After yesterday's joint military exercise, we can take this opportunity to conduct a
01:16similar exercise.
01:19Taiwan's defense ministry has been shifting military training, combining different weapons
01:23and units to get their soldiers ready for a variety of situations.
01:27Realistic training has been a priority for Taiwan's military, and some observers say
01:32that these drills so far look promising.
01:35Just the fact that the Ministry of National Defense seems to be taking very seriously
01:39the risk that a gray zone exercise or demonstration could morph into an actual assault is a really
01:45important movement in the right direction.
01:48Apparently, we are seeing both the rapid mobilization of units.
01:51That's just an enormously beneficial first step.
01:54But then also this attempt to use some more modern and advanced tactics in order to achieve
01:59a bit of concealment, in order to not mass a lot of armored vehicles in one place that
02:03would just make them a tempting target for a drone or a long range missile.
02:10Other branches like the Air Force and the Navy are set to conduct their own exercises
02:14later this week.
02:16The aim here is for the military to continue carrying out these kinds of operations, taking
02:20bigger steps towards becoming a more modern fighting force.
02:24Fu Hua Hong and Jaime Okon for Taiwan Plus.