5 days ago
On Taiwan's forgotten front line, all the defensive drills in the world may not matter
The tanks and armoured vehicles rolled onto the sandy beach in the dead of night on Taiwan's Kinmen island, lying in wait for the signal.
Within minutes, the order came over the loudspeaker, and the drills began with a series of huge explosions shaking the ground of this small island, located just two kilometres from China.
The rumbling thunder of rockets being launched towards the water could be heard from the edge of the beach. Seconds later, the sound of machine guns and a howitzer split the air while lasers lit up the night sky with orange lines.
The drills taking place at the Houhu Seaside Park on Kinmen's east coast are part of Taiwan's annual Han Kuang military drills. They are hosted there to showcase its military prowess and prepare its troops in the event of a Chinese invasion.
This year, the exercises are the biggest and longest ever, with more than 22,000 reservists deployed for 10 days of weapons training as well as a wide range of field exercises, which have included running through Taipei's subway system in the middle of the night.
The drills on Kinmen are particularly important, given that its proximity to China has earned it the label of Taiwan's 'front line'.
However, those who live on Kinmen, including the troops, believe that this designation may no longer be valid; with some of the world's most advanced weapons, if China wanted to attack Taiwan today, it could go straight for the jugular and hit the capital, Taipei.
'In the past, the military technology was not that advanced so the Chinese communists could only bomb Kinmen Island, but now they can launch missiles across the ocean, even to the United States,' said Yu-Jen Chen, who represents Kinmen in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan – similar to a member of parliament in the UK.
As part of this year's larger Han Kuang drills, they will also involve 'unscripted' portions to more accurately simulate what would happen in the event of an attack.
On Kinmen, this means that some of the soldiers participating in the night-time drills have not been told key information in advance.
'They will only be deployed to the beach, when they receive the order from their commanders,' said a military source who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media.
'Previously they would have a planned mobilisation, but this time they don't have an arranged deployment.'
Similar to the rest of Han Kuang, the drills on Kinmen this year are the largest ever, with all 3,000 soldiers stationed on the island taking part.
Nine M60A3 tanks and four CM21 armoured vehicles were seen lining up before launching a torrent of projectiles towards Taiwan island.
There will also be continuous shooting across the main island, neighbouring Lesser Kinmen and nine surrounding islets, marking the first time all 12 are using live fire.
'This is the biggest one in history. While the islets have been included as part of the annual Han Kuang in the past, this year we made adjustments to have simultaneous live-firing on all of them,' Lt Gen Wang Shi-Tu, commander of the Kinmen Defense Command, told The Telegraph.
'This is because of the threats, especially the threats coming from the other side of the Taiwan Strait.'
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, a stance which the government in Taipei rejects, and has not ruled out the use of force to 'reunify' the country.
However, those who live in Kinmen don't believe that the drills are all that useful.
'I was joking with a general who said that if a war happens they will mobilise their troops to hide in the mountains so we can avoid escalating the battle and minimise the destruction on Kinmen,' said Wang Song-Wei, who works at the Kinmen county government.
There used to be approximately 100,000 troops stationed on Kinmen Island, but over the years this number has decreased to the 3,000 or so here today – hardly enough to defend the island against China's strength of more than two million. Legislator Chen explained that having fewer troops on Kinmen makes the island less of a target.
The island also doesn't look the way you would imagine a frontline to look.
Former military bases have been turned into museums, with artillery used in tourist showcases and old tanks left outside to rust and decay.
All of this is compounded by the greatest disadvantage facing Kinmen – that it would more or less be left to fend for itself in the event of an attack.
Legislator Chen said that the 'official attitude' from the ministry of national defence in Taipei is that if Kinmen were attacked, its people would have to 'fight for ourselves independently'.
This sentiment was echoed by several residents across the island, including Jason Yang, who was born and raised on Kinmen, but before retiring served as one of the highest officials in the military's combat unit on the main island.
'In the event of a possible confrontation with China, it would not be a priority for Taipei to send troops,' he said.
Mr Wang believes one of the reasons that Lai Ching-te, the Taiwan president, decided to increase the scale of the Han Kuang drills this year was to appeal to the United States and, as the 'frontline', Kinmen needed to be included.
The US has long maintained a principle of strategic ambiguity when it comes to Taiwan, refraining from asserting whether it would come to the country's defence in the event of an attack.
The Pentagon has recently been pushing Japan and Australia to clarify what kind of role they would play if Taiwan was attacked.
One unnamed US official said that this was to ensure that 'the United States and its allies have the military strength to underwrite diplomacy and guarantee peace'.
For his part, Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, rebuffed the efforts, saying that his country would not join a 'hypothetical' conflict with China over Taiwan.
President Donald Trump has echoed this position, while also pushing for Taiwan to do its own part to protect itself, including by increasing its defence budget.
'It is very likely Lai is trying to show off to Trump. He takes action based on loyalty. He wants people to grovel and that is what Lai is doing,' said Mr Wang.
While the threat of an invasion looms over many in Taipei, for those on Kinmen, they don't believe China would attack 'its own family', as one resident put it.
Kinmen and Xiamen, the Chinese city closest to the island, are very close culturally and many residents on both sides have family on the other.
No one understands this better than Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, who served as vice-mayor of the coastal city during the 1980s.
The government in Beijing has been capitalising on these ties in recent years, adopting what has become known as the Kinmen Model. This refers to Chinese coast guard activities aimed at furthering legal cross-strait relations by removing Taipei's authority over the Taiwan Strait.
China has deployed many vessels – both officially and unofficially – into the strait over the years as part of its 'grey zone' efforts to intimidate and coerce Taiwan.
Given this, it came as little surprise to those gathered on the beach that the island's largest drills to date began with the encroachment of a Chinese fishing boat.
