INTERVIEW/Ex-U.S. admiral praises Taiwan's mobilization of reservists in Han Kuang drills

Washington, July 18 (CNA) A retired U.S. Navy rear admiral on Friday praised Taiwan for mobilizing more than 20,000 reservists in its annual Han Kuang military exercises this year.

It was good to see the 20,000-plus reservists taking part in this year's Han Kuang drills, Mark Montgomery told CNA.

It was a "great first step" because it is one of the key issues for Taiwan, said Montgomery, who retired in 2017 and now works as senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

"Taiwan has to redesign their active duty-reserve balance to get it right," he said. "That's how they make more effective use of the reservists."

According to Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄), up to 22,000 reservists participated in the 10-day exercises this year, the highest number in the drill's history.

Montgomery expressed some concern, however, that the Han Kuang drills remained "unilateral Taiwan-only" exercises.

"Maybe there are American observers there, but really it's a Taiwan exercise," he said.

Taiwan is not going to fight the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) alone, because it is not a fight it can win, nor is it a conflict that Taiwan wants, the retired naval admiral said.

He called for bilateral military exercises between the United States and Taiwan, saying that the Han Kuang drills should integrate U.S. naval forces, along with Air Force and ground troops.

"Our Congress anticipated this, and in the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act of 2023, which was passed over two years ago now, Congress directed the Department of Defense to increase the amount of exercising with our Taiwan counterparts," he said.

The Han Kuang series of exercises is the perfect platform for such training, Montgomery added.

The U.S. and Taiwan need to do as much as possible to create the interoperability between their military forces to deter the CCP from doing "anything foolish," Montgomery said.

Meanwhile, he said, he thinks that under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, the U.S. would intervene if the CCP attempted to coerce Taiwan into unification or into disavowing any type of independence or sovereignty.

"I believe that the Trump administration understands that Taiwan is in the United States' national security interest," Montgomery said.

On Taiwan's decision to raise its defense spending to 3 percent of its gross domestic product, the retired naval officer said he thinks it is sufficient for this year.

"I think 5 percent would be a good number" by the end of President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) administration, he said.

Montgomery is scheduled to visit Taiwan at the end of July, when he will take part in war games to be held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology in Taipei.

The simulation will focus on an energy-based economic warfare scenario, combined with cyberattacks, to examine the vulnerabilities of Taiwan's power grid and explore ways to help prevent the PLA or China's coastguard from disrupting Taiwan's imported supply chain.