Taiwan holds blockade-style drills

Taiwan said this month it will hold its first joint anti-blockade drills, rehearsing how to keep fuel and supply ships moving if China tries to choke off the island by sea. (bloomberg.com) Deputy Interior Minister Sawyer Mars told Bloomberg the exercise will bring together the Interior Ministry, military and coast guard to escort ships carrying liquefied natural gas and oil. (bloomberg.com) Mars said Taiwan wants to preserve three maritime corridors in a blockade scenario, connecting the island with routes toward the Philippines, Japan and the United States. (taipeitimes.com) Interior Ministry-led land drills are due before July to test how supplies would move inside Taiwan, while the navy and coast guard would handle escort operations near the island. (taipeitimes.com) Defense Minister Wellington Koo said anti-blockade planning is not new and that isolation and blockade scenarios have long been part of Taiwan’s regular exercises, including Han Kuang. (taipeitimes.com) The new emphasis reflects how Taipei now treats a blockade as a more immediate threat than an outright amphibious invasion. China has spent years normalizing encirclement drills, air incursions and coast guard pressure around Taiwan. (aei.org) (chinapower.csis.org) Taiwanese officials argue a closure of the Taiwan Strait or nearby waters would not just hit Taiwan. Mars said it would amount to “almost a 100 percent” blockage of regional energy supply. (taipeitimes.com) Analysts say the geography is different from the Strait of Hormuz because ships can sail east of Taiwan, but rerouting traffic into the Pacific would still add time, cost and military risk. (taipeitimes.com) (chathamhouse.org) Taiwan is also widening the drill set beyond the navy. Civil defense exercises this month were run alongside Han Kuang war games to test emergency coordination across ministries, hospitals, transport and communications systems. (tsm.schar.gmu.edu) On April 23, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling visited Taiwan-held Itu Aba in the South China Sea for exercises that included armed boarding of a suspicious ship. (usnews.com) The next big test comes with Taiwan’s live-fire Han Kuang drills in July and August, when officials are expected to show more of how the island plans to keep sea lanes open under pressure. (taiwannews.com.tw) (taipeitimes.com)