Taiwan Conducts a Major Islandwide Military Exercise Every Year to Simulate a Chinese Invasion

Soldiers repositioning after a drill simulating contamination during a military exercise in Hualien, Taiwan. An Rong Xu/Bloomberg via. Taiwan conducts a major islandwide military exercise every year to simulate a Chinese invasion.

Local media estimated that over 100 US military advisors and trainers attended this year's exercises. It's an open secret in Taiwan that the US is helping to advise its troops and observe their tactics. There's a term in Taiwan for the hardened, military-aged Americans who mysteriously pop up at the island's annual simulation of a Chinese invasion.

"English teachers. Vaguely employed and surprisingly fit, they are often spotted in small groups, chatting with local soldiers, walking double-time on the streets, and giving death stares to any camera-toting reporters as the Taiwanese prepare and execute their live drills. Local media estimated that over 100 of these foreigners — rumored to be unofficial US military advisors and observers — were present at this year's Han Kuang exercise, which featured 10 intense days of drills across Taiwan.

The US sells weaponry to Taiwan, but overt military ties with the island are politically sensitive, and the American military presence there is covert. A 2021 report by The Wall Street Journal found that small teams of US special operations forces, a few dozen strong, had spent at least a year training Taiwanese troops on the island. In the so-called "English teachers, a similar kind of quiet, persistent US military presence was noticeable at this year's Han Kuang.

"A lot more 'American English teachers' will be showing up where they need to be, its defense minister, Koo Li-hsiung, said to reporters before the exercise began. "But you won't be able to spot them everywhere they operate. US-Taiwanese military collaboration "is far closer than you might imagine," he added.

I ran into a group that fit the "English teacher" bill one late Friday night. Typhoon Dolphin was dumping rain on central Taipei that evening, and I'd shown up at the wrong subway station exit for a military police exercise. The drill involved Taiwan's military police special forces, who took the subway during a simulated Chinese attack.

Daniel Ceng/Anadolu via. Two white, raincoat-clad men with crew cuts there eyeballed me wordlessly as I, believing them to be fellow international reporters, attempted to introduce myself. They spoke briefly with a Taiwanese officer at the exit before disappearing down the station escalator.

The local soldier awkwardly told me they weren't journalists, though he wouldn't say more. As military police prepared to cover the area around the station after midnight, I glimpsed the same men in civilian raincoats walking about briskly in the rain, raising their collars and turning away to shield their faces from cameras. I couldn't confirm their identities.

When asked about US involvement in the Han Kuang, a State Department spokesperson told Business Insider that the US remains committed to its one China policy, and to preserving peace across the Taiwan Strait. The spokesperson did not confirm if there are military personnel on the ground. However, they said the US makes available to Taiwan the defense resources and services necessary to defend itself according to the threat it faces, which they added has grown considerably.

Taiwan's defense ministry and the US Pacific Command did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider. The Pentagon declined to comment. Taiwanese Army troops conduct an operation simulating a response to grey-zone attacks on key infrastructure by Chinese special agents in Penghu. Daniel Ceng/Anadolu via.