TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's largest annual military exercise, the Han Kuang 41 (漢光演習), continued into its eighth day on Wednesday (July 16) with intensive "deep defense" drills conducted by the Fifth Operations Zone in Taichung's coastal Dajia District (大甲區). This strategically significant area along the island's western shoreline hosted complex defensive maneuvers. Military personnel fired blank ammunition from domestically manufactured CM32 Armored Vehicles (雲豹甲車), commonly known as "Clouded Leopard" vehicles, and battle-tested CM11 tanks, showcasing Taiwan's layered territorial defense capabilities as cross-strait tensions with China remain at elevated levels.
Attention shifted to a series of official photographs published by the Presidential Office (總統府), Taiwan's executive headquarters, on its Flickr account documenting the president's inspection tour conducted the previous day. Defense analysts quickly noted a significant detail in the imagery: a distinctive military patch visible on a Taiwanese officer's uniform sleeve. The patch displayed both Taiwanese and American flags alongside the text "2021 TW-US JLFX Tenacious Archer." Security experts identified this as evidence of previously undisclosed joint live-fire exercises involving Taiwan's Patriot III missile defense systems conducted on American soil in 2021.
The seemingly calculated revelation prompted expert analysis from Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑), an associate professor specializing in military affairs at Tamkang University's (淡江) Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, who proposed that American officials likely approved or even encouraged the disclosure of this previously classified joint training. "This appears connected to ongoing interactions with the United States," Lin remarked regarding the timing. Chen Kuo-ming (陳國銘), a veteran defense journalist who serves as director of interviews at Defense International Magazine (全球防衛雜誌), characterized the photo release as "intentional and strategic," designed to communicate to both domestic and international audiences the increasingly formalized security partnership between Taipei and Washington.
Military officials have confirmed that this year's iteration of the Han Kuang exercises excludes live-fire components on Taiwan's main island, focusing instead on simulated combat scenarios and command post exercises. However, defense experts suggest the carefully orchestrated revelation through official channels represents a significant shift in how Taiwan-U.S. military cooperation is being publicly acknowledged. In a related development, TVBS News has secured exclusive video documentation confirming the presence of American military observers monitoring the current exercises on Taiwanese territory, further evidence of deepening and increasingly visible defense collaboration between Taipei and Washington amid growing regional security concerns. ◼
