Taiwan defence drills identify 2027 for potential China invasion

TAIPEI – Taiwan identified 2027 as the potential year for a Chinese invasion for the first time in its annual military drills, as concerns grow on the self-ruled island about tensions with Beijing.

The Taiwanese Defence Ministry unveiled the date in a document released on March 18 to brief lawmakers on upcoming war games simulating an attack by the Chinese military.

The exercises will also double in length to 10 days this summer, reflecting an increased emphasis on military preparedness in the democracy that China claims as its territory.

No previous plan for Taiwan’s biggest annual live-fire drills in at least a decade specified a year for a potential Chinese invasion, according to public documents seen by Bloomberg.

Despite that, Defence Minister Wellington Koo appeared to play down the naming of a date.

“The Han Kuang Exercise always sets a timeline of one to two years in the future, because the acquisition of new weapons and training require repeated drills for validation,” he told reporters on March 19, as he prepared to address lawmakers.

It’s unclear how the 2027 setting will change the programme of the drills, or whether the date is actually more of a political signal.

Focusing 2025’s exercises on 2027 could be a tactic to get past a stalemate in Taiwan’s split Parliament, where opposition parties are challenging certain military spending plans, according to Mr Jack Chen, director of Formosa Defence Vision, an advocacy group.

“This could make the opposition parties and the public feel that increasing the military budget is an urgent necessity,” he added.

President Xi Jinping has set the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) the goal of becoming a “modern military” by 2027, and a world-class force by 2047.

US officials have claimed as recently as 2024 that China is preparing to be ready to