Taipei military hospital holds evacuation drill on Han Kuang day 9

Taipei, July 17 (CNA) A military-run hospital in Taipei on Thursday held a round of evacuation drills to simulate emergency evacuation during a Chinese invasion, on the ninth day of the annual Han Kuang exercises.

The drill, held at Taipei-based Tri-Service General Hospital and presided over by Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄), saw the military hospital conduct a mass evacuation of its patients and staffers, in case a war breaks out, according to a news release issued by the Ministry of National Defense (MND).

Koo was quoted as saying in the MND press release that Thursday's drill was the first time such a mass evacuation drill had been conducted during the annual Han Kuang series of exercises at the Taipei hospital.

Thursday marked the ninth and penultimate day of Taiwan's longest-ever live-fire phase of the annual Han Kuang military exercises, which officially began on July 9.

Also on Thursday, a field repair drill simulating a military HUMVEE malfunction in southern Tainan City, to test the military's emergency maintenance capabilities.

Meanwhile, in the offshore island of Matsu, a joint military-civilian drill simulating the local main power source, Beigan Power Plant, was being sabotaged by enemy forces.

Fire, police and health departments in Beigan all sent personnel to work with the Army's Matsu Defense Command to jointly defend the key infrastructure on the island by putting out fires, and taking care of affected people, as military personnel located and eliminated the enemy forces responsible for the sabotage.

According to the MND, the 10-day, nine-night Han Kuang exercises running through Friday are twice as long as previous live-fire drills, which typically lasted five days and four nights.

Since 1984, the annual Han Kuang exercises have served as Taiwan's major war games, combining live-fire drills and computerized tabletop simulations to test combat readiness against a possible Chinese invasion.

This year's tabletop war games were conducted from April 5 to 18.