Taiwanese troops were seen on Monday carrying Stinger missiles and grenade launchers on Taipei’s subway as they trained to fight off a Chinese invasion.
Footage of the drill, part of the island’s annual Han Kuang war games, was published by the Military News Agency. The outlet is run by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense.
Similarly, the US military also conducts combat training in tunnels and subway systems to prepare for urban warfare in megacities.
However, the Taiwanese defense ministry’s news branch wrote that its soldiers weren’t just learning to fight on the subway, but also to “use underground facilities to transfer troops.”
Several clips showed dozens of heavily armed soldiers riding the subway, taking escalators, and leaving via ticket gantries before taking position away from the station.
The training exercise involved soldiers of Taiwan’s military police and Third Army Command, who toted anti-armor rockets and practiced tactical movement in subway cars and stations.
Some soldiers were filmed driving forklifts to load ammunition and other gear onto service trains of the subway lines.
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Taiwan’s national news agency, Central News Agency, reported that the exercise ran between the Shandao Temple Station and Longshan Temple Station. The stations are three stops apart, and the route goes through Taipei Main Station, a major interchange.
Chen Junjun/Military News Agency
Greater Taipei’s urban core, home to roughly 6.5 million people, is serviced by six main subway lines and a few extensions.
Han Kuang, run for over 40 years, is focused on countering a Chinese invasion and also trains Taiwan’s troops for contingencies if Beijing successfully lands its forces on the island.
This year’s exercise is Taiwan’s largest in scale so far, running for 10 days and featuring a heavier emphasis on drills with civil forces and civilians to test the entire island’s war readiness.
Taiwanese troops on Saturday also deployed the American High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, which Taipei received last year, for the first time in the Han Kuang drills.
All of this comes as Taipei’s current government, known for resisting Beijing, grows increasingly concerned about emerging hostilities with mainland China. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has pledged to reunify the island under Beijing’s control, and said his country would never renounce its right to use force to reach that goal.
