Taiwan’s military simulates worst-case scenario: PLA drill turns into attack

Name: Shandong aircraft carrier moves into Taiwan response zone ahead of PLA drills
Uploaded: 2025-04-07T12:00:14.000Z
Duration: 2 min 57 s
Description: Shandong aircraft carrier moves into Taiwan response zone ahead of PLA drills

Computer-assisted war game will run for 14 days, with US military personnel reportedly expected to observe the exercise

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There are fears in Taiwan that PLA activities around the island could escalate into a real attack that might be too sudden for Taiwanese forces to counter. Photo: EPA-EFE

Lawrence Chungin Taipei

Published: 8:00pm, 7 Apr 2025

Taiwan’s military has kicked off an unprecedented 14-day tabletop exercise simulating its worst-case scenario: the People’s Liberation Army turning a drill into a full-scale assault on the island.

The computer-assisted war game started on the weekend and will run until April 18. It comes amid fears that one of Beijing’s increasingly frequent and large-scale military operations around Taiwan could escalate into a real attack that would be too sudden for the island’s forces to counter.

US military personnel are expected to arrive in Taiwan this week to observe the exercise, according to Taiwanese media reports. The drill is part of Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang series of military exercises that put the island’s defence capabilities to the test.

This year’s tabletop exercise is the longest ever – it will be six days longer than in 2024. It began with the main command setting up a joint operations centre to simulate a swift transition from peacetime to wartime.

“The scenarios are based on possible PLA actions, including a transition from drills to an actual assault on Taiwan,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

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Shandong aircraft carrier moves into Taiwan response zone ahead of PLA drills

It will also test Taiwan’s ability to respond to so-called grey-zone threats – coercive tactics that stop short of open conflict, including cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and harassment by militia fishing fleets and drones.