Taiwan to hold military exercises with lessons from Russian invasion in mind

Taiwan's defence ministry said on Tuesday that the island nation will incorporate lessons learnt from Russian invasion of Ukraine into upcoming military exercises. The military exercises are aimed at practising repelling a Chinese attack.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory. Ever since Russian invasion, Taiwan has raised its alert level to fend off a possible Chinese attack.

The defence ministry said this year's Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan's largest annual war games, would be split into two parts, in May and July.

The May part would partly be a tabletop exercise based on "various possible actions of the Chinese Communist Party in recent years to invade Taiwan, taking into account the lessons of the Russian-Ukrainian war", it said in a statement.

The ministry added that there will be five days of drills with Taiwanese soldiers taking part. There will be live-fire exercises.

The focus of the military exercise will be to attack enemy at sea, preserving combat forces and "integrating the total force of the whole people to support military operations", a reference to civil defence and reservist reforms that aim to improve Taiwan's ability to fight a war with China.

While Taiwanese officials have seen many parallels in the Ukraine war and their own situation, including having their own giant neighbour with territorial ambitions, they have also pointed to major differences.

There is a "natural barrier of the Taiwan Strait. This may put China in a relatively difficult position putting troops on the ground.

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China has dismissed any comparisons between Ukraine and Taiwan, saying that Taiwan is a part of China and not an independent country.

(With inputs from agencies)