Taiwan Holds First Joint Navy-Coast Guard Anti-Blockade Drill
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- Taiwan's navy and coast guard held their first joint anti-blockade drill on Aug 12, simulating the escort of a merchant vessel to ports on Taiwan's east coast, the defence ministry said.
- The 10-day Han Kuang exercise began the previous week; during the anti-blockade scenario a mine sweeper cleared a safe navigation channel while navy and coast guard vessels completed escort and security protection duties.
- China launched what it calls 'law enforcement' patrols off Taiwan's east coast in June, drawing anger from Taipei and concern in Washington and other Western capitals.
- Taiwan's coast guard, which would take an auxiliary wartime role supporting the navy, said both ports involved in the drill were on the east coast.
- Soldiers erected metal barricades, barbed-wire obstacles and concrete barriers on roads leading to a key Taipei bridge during a separate Aug 12 phase of the exercise.
- Chieh Chung, a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said Taiwan's military plans include demolishing such bridges to keep the PLA from crossing the river rapidly into the capital.
Why it matters: This is the first time Taipei has formally drilled the coast guard and navy together against a blockade scenario, integrating the coast guard's wartime auxiliary role into active exercises — a direct operational response to China's June patrol escalation that gives Taiwan rehearsed procedures for keeping commercial shipping lanes open if Beijing shifts from 'law enforcement' to a real blockade.
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