Han Kuang 42: How Taiwan and Its Partners Are Preparing To Stop a Chinese Invasion

Published

By TaiwanPlus

Open in App

Taiwan’s Han Kuang 42 exercise is putting the country’s defenses through their most demanding test yet, shifting from scripted drills to realistic scenarios designed to simulate the chaos of wartime. Over 10 days, the exercise tests everything from degraded communications and reserve mobilization to logistics, access denial and civilian resilience, while forcing commanders to operate with limited guidance under battlefield conditions. The drills come as China intensifies military pressure through joint patrols, live-fire exercises, gray-zone coercion and increasingly sophisticated operations around Taiwan and the wider Western Pacific. Can Taiwan’s military maintain command, sustain operations and coordinate with civilian agencies under the pressure of a real conflict? In this episode, we examine what makes Han Kuang 42 different, the lessons Taiwan is drawing from allied exercises across the Indo-Pacific, and what the drills reveal about Taiwan’s readiness to deter a potential Chinese attack. *Recorded on August 4, 2026 at 4pm Taiwan Standard Time Host: Rath Wang Producer: Miguel Yang Videographer: Celest Kao Our guests: Shen Ming-shih - Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR) Research Fellow Renato Cruz de Castro - De La Salle University Department of International Studies Distinguished Professor

Taiwan-China Cross-Strait Tensions