Archive · 14 Aug 2026
China calls Taiwan's Han Kuang war games a 'wasteful charade'
Taiwan is an island near China.
China says Taiwan belongs to it, but Taiwan has its own government and says its people get to decide what happens to them.
Every year, Taiwan holds big practice exercises called Han Kuang military drills so its soldiers can practice defending the island.
This year, the drills practiced what to do if China tried to take the island, like getting around a blockade and slowing down the mobile internet.
China did not like these drills.
A Chinese defence ministry spokesperson called them a 'wasteful charade' and said they made people scared of war.
China's military said it is ready and watching closely.
China says it wants peace, but it also refuses to promise it will never use force.
Taiwan says its people should be the ones to decide their future.
The two sides disagree about what should happen.
China's defence ministry dismissed Taiwan's annual Han Kuang military drills as a 'wasteful charade' that 'stoked war panic'.
Spokesperson Chen Xi made China's first official comment on the 10-day exercises since they began last week.
Chen Xi accused Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party of turning cities into battlefields and pushing ordinary people to the front lines.
Taiwan's drills rehearsed scenarios of a possible Chinese attack, including breaking a maritime blockade and, for the first time, slowing mobile internet.
Taiwan says only its people can decide their future, while the People's Liberation Army says it remains on high alert against separatism and external interference.
- Who
- China's defence ministry spokesperson Chen Xi criticised Taiwan's government and its ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
- What
- China dismissed Taiwan's annual Han Kuang military drills as a 'wasteful charade' that 'stoked war panic'.
- When
- Friday, August 14, after the 10-day exercises began the previous week.
- Where
- Beijing, China, in response to the drills held around Taiwan and the Taiwan Strait.
- Why
- Taiwan's drills rehearsed scenarios of a possible Chinese attack on the island, which China said stoked war panic and undermined its sovereignty claims.
China's stance
Taiwan's stance
Purpose of the Han Kuang drills
China's stance
The exercises are a 'posturing, wasteful charade' that needlessly stoked war panic.
Taiwan's stance
The drills rehearse scenarios should China attempt to seize the island by force, such as breaking a maritime blockade.
Who decides Taiwan's future
China's stance
Taiwan is part of China; Beijing must safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity against 'separatism'.
Taiwan's stance
Only Taiwan's people can decide the island's future.
Military activity around Taiwan
China's stance
The PLA's high alert and enhanced real-combat capabilities counter separatism and external interference and maintain stability.
Taiwan's stance
China's almost daily military operations around Taiwan are a pressure campaign, which Taiwan regularly criticises.
- Event
- Taiwan's annual Han Kuang military drills
- Duration
- 10 days
- China's response
- First official comment dismissing the drills as a 'wasteful charade'
- Chinese spokesperson
- Chen Xi, defence ministry spokesperson
- Taiwan ruling party
- Democratic Progressive Party
- New drill element
- Slowing mobile internet, practiced for the first time
- China's stated position
- Prefers 'peaceful reunification' but has never renounced the use of force
- Date of statement
- Friday, Aug 14 (Beijing)