The Han Kuang 42 military exercise commenced officially on Wednesday, August 5. Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said during a briefing in the Legislature that the exercise follows earlier immediate combat readiness and joint defense exercises in using a realistic, combat-oriented training model. 

Koo said participating units are operating under an unscripted scenario with a defined objective. The continuously evolving situation will test the units’ command decision-making and order execution. He added that training is the foundation of combat capability, and there is no such thing as ‘good enough’, only continuous improvement.

Chinese armed forces conducted a joint combat readiness patrol in waters and airspace around the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, August 4, in an apparent attempt to disrupt the Han Kuang exercise. Koo said that this is not the first instance of Chinese harassment, not the first joint combat readiness patrol, and that the ROC armed forces will not suspend exercise activities because of it.

Koo said in a previous media interview on July 31 that an increasing number of ‘American instructors’ have been coming to Taiwan to assist the armed forces. However, when asked about their participation in this year’s Han Kuang exercise, he only stated that military exchanges between Taiwan and the U.S. have grown increasingly close.