Reports indicate that on the day of the exercise, local governments will each select three townships, cities, or districts as key inspection areas. Public transportation, consumer goods and services, and government offices will be the focus, with particular emphasis on inspecting the actual entry of citizens into air raid shelters. Zhu Sencun, director of the Personnel Mobilization Division of Taiwan’s”All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency,” stated that during the air raid drills, all businesses, government offices, schools, companies, factories, and financial institutions in the key inspection areas must temporarily cease operations. Citizens should seek the nearest air raid shelter; vehicles in transit should pull over, and occupants should disembark and proceed to the nearest air raid shelter.
Taiwan’s United Daily News reported that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration has combined the Han Guang exercise with civil defense drills under the banner of”Unity Month,” clearly in line with Lai Ching-te’s recent”Ten Talks on Unity.” Chang Yen-ting, a professor at National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu and former deputy commander of the Taiwanese Air Force, wrote that given Taiwan’s social atmosphere, the topic of”exercises” is unrealistic, serving only to fulfill requirements, serve political purposes, or even fuel the”recall” movement.
The article mentions that a recent joint military-civilian wargame, involving retired American and Japanese generals, revealed the”Taiwanese team’s” weakness in combat capabilities and outdated equipment. During the simulated exercise, they struggled to develop effective countermeasures and lacked the initiative to attack. This clearly highlights the current predicament of Taiwan’s defense capabilities. The Lai administration’s focus on urban warfare drills is seen as an attempt to mask the weaknesses of its main combat forces, while simultaneously pushing for increased civilian defense resilience, involving demolition and close-quarters combat in urban areas. This approach, prioritizing civilian participation over the strengthening of the main combat forces, is considered absurd and counterproductive.