Student club war-games Chinese invasion of Taiwan

Taipei, Sept. 10 (CNA) Students at National Taiwan University (NTU) ran a war game Tuesday night that featured a range of elements in a potential conflict between Taiwan and China, amid recent military developments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

The tabletop exercise, hosted by the NTU National Security & Strategy Studies Institution, a student club, is based on a scenario in which China turns its "Strait Thunder-2025A" military exercise, staged around Taiwan on April 3, into a full-scale invasion.

Students portraying Taiwanese officials were tasked with responding to scenarios that included Chinese spies sabotaging public infrastructure, undersea cables being damaged, air bases in eastern Taiwan coming under missile attack, and a new People's Liberation Army (PLA) amphibious assault barge landing on a beach in Tainan, a city in southern Taiwan.

Defense researcher K. Tristan Tang (湯廣正), who designed the war game, said unlike tabletop exercises aimed at offering the government suggestions on its national security strategies, his version focuses on informing players of the elements in a potential cross-strait war and recent developments, such as the PLA's testing of its new amphibious landing barge and Taiwan's new focus on urban warfare in its annual Han Kuang exercises.

It also allows players to simulate the government decision-making process in response to crises, Tang added.

"The institution hopes to pass on knowledge about national defense and military affairs in the form of popular science, to make it part of young people's everyday life," institution leader Urania Juan (阮悠晴) said when asked by CNA why the club decided to host the student-oriented exercise.

Juan said that she believes helping people develop a more detailed understanding of the situation on both sides of the Strait will help promote unity among the public when faced with China's threats.

Former Chief of the General Staff Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), former Pengagon official Tony Hu (胡振東) and National Chengchi University Professor Emeritus Arthur Ding (丁樹範) observed the war game and offered feedback.

Lee underscored the importance of decentralized command in combat.

In actual warfare, situations on the battlefield are "chaotic," and Taiwan's troops would not achieve anything if they were to consult with the president before making a move, Lee explained.

Therefore, commanders at all levels must be given a certain level of autonomy to make decisions, he said.

Ding noted that Taiwan must be mindful of Chinese tactics to diminish the public's "will to fight" if war were to occur.

These include sabotage of public infrastructure, disinformation campaigns and united front tactics to divide and conquer the Taiwanese public -- for example, by manipulating public opinion, creating the image that Taiwan lacks legitimacy to sustain the war.

Asked by a student whether Taiwan should launch a counteroffensive to neutralize PLA weapons used to attack Taiwan, Hu said it would be necessary and should be swiftly carried out once the enemy strikes.

For example, Hu said, China has over 900 DF-15 short-range ballistic missiles but only around 300 launchers.

Hu said that as soon as China launches the first barrage of DF-15s at Taiwan, the latter should immediately launch a counterattack to take out China's missile launchers, "so there won't be a second and third wave of attack."