This year’s 10-day live-fire Han Kuang drills are the longest yet and follow the delivery of a range of new weaponry from tanks to waterborne drones. The drills in Taiwan come as regional tensions and harassment by China and its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are increasing.

Taiwan's newly acquired HIMARS and Abrams tanks would raise the costs of a Chinese amphibious landing, a defense analyst says.

Taiwan received the initial installment of the first 11 of 29 HIMARS units it ordered last year. Taiwan tested the systems for the first time in May of this year.

Taiwan's armed forces have an active-duty strength of just over 150,000, compared with China's standing army of over 2 million soldiers.

Taiwan will simulate a Chinese blockade and invasion of the democratic island in its annual military and civil defence drills next week, as President Lai Ching-te warned on Tuesday the island was already facing China's "war without gun smoke".

Much like Ukraine’s unexpectedly resilient defence, Taipei wants Beijing to understand that a military conflict would not be as easy, or predictable, as once thought.