DEFENSE/Reservists report to locations around Taiwan for Han Kuang drills

Taipei, July 22 (CNA) Thousands of reservists on Monday reported for duty to designated strategic locations across Taiwan as the five-day live-fire component of the nation's largest-ever annual Han Kuang military exercises began early in the day.

The 40th edition of the annual event officially began at 6 a.m. after the Ministry of National Defense's (MND) Joint Operations Command Center, also known as the Hengshan Command Center, announced the beginning of the five-day around-the-clock drills.

As part of the drills, reservists reported to designated strategic locations around the country.

In Taoyuan, reservists reported to Hou Tsou Elementary School from 8 a.m. to noon in preparation for a 5-7 day refresher training program that will see them defending nearby Taoyuan International Airport.

The main gateway has been listed by Taiwan's government as a key transportation infrastructure location where the armed forces regularly hold anti-landing drills to familiarize personnel with contingencies in the event of cross-strait conflict.

The elementary school is also located only 5 kilometers from Zhuwei Beach, which the military considers a potential landing site for the People's Liberation Army in the event of an invasion by sea.

Chen Kuo-ming (陳國銘) of the Defense International Magazine told CNA that the elementary school is situated in a key strategic location that needs to be protected as it is close to Taoyuan Airport and the Port of Taipei.

Also on Monday morning in New Taipei's Bali District where the Port of Taipei is located, reservists began operations where they simulated mobilizing civilian vehicles to be used to transport wartime necessities and supplies.

Reservists from the 109th Brigade also began to build defensive posts at key locations around the Port of Taipei.

On Monday afternoon, a group of Army engineers practiced blocking the Tamsui River with obstacles intended to slow an enemy invasion as part of the ongoing Han Kuang exercises.

Operating two M3 Amphibious rigs, a self-propelled, amphibious bridging vehicle and ferrying vehicle, military engineers from the Army's 53rd Engineering Group introduced three-tier obstacles consisting of of oil tanks, intercept cables and floating platforms on the river.

Master Sergeant Chang Chih-ping (張志斌) of the 53rd Engineering Group told CNA that during wartime, the

oil tanks would be filled with kerosene and gasoline and could be ignited to stop enemy vessels from advancing through the river or force them to change their course.

Taiwan's military regularly holds drills in the Tamsui River estuary, at the Port of Taipei and Bali Beach -- the so-called "defense triangle of Taipei" -- to test its capability to guard the critical strategic location.

The area is considered a critical strategic location as it is the gateway to Taipei, the nation's political, economic and social capital, where the Presidential Office and other important government institutions are situated.

The annual Han Kuang exercises, which have served as Taiwan's major war games since 1984, consist of live-fire drills and computerized war games and seek to test Taiwan's combat readiness in the face of a possible Chinese invasion.

This year's tabletop exercises were staged in April.