Taiwan's troops are training to fight China in ordinary neighborhoods as people go about their days
Taiwan's Han Kuang exercises are carried out right in the middle of neighborhoods and city streets.
Ann Wang/REUTERS Taiwan held a slew of military exercises this month to simulate a Chinese invasion.
For 10 days and 9 nights, its troops skirmished and drilled in public view on city streets and alleys.
The island hopes to help people become familiar with the military and think about war scenarios.
TAIPEI — Phone in hand, the middle-aged woman gestured to the Taipei intersection, where an infantry platoon unloaded sandbags on the pedestrian crossings.
"My Uber is waiting for me just there," she said in Mandarin, pointing behind them.
The bespectacled military policeman blocking her path with a T112 assault rifle apologized: She'd have to find another way around.
Soon after, Clouded Leopard infantry fighting vehicles emerged between the shophouses, opening fire with blanks into a killbox the Taiwanese formed with barricades.
Military police covered the roads with smoke grenades, several leapfrogging through the streets under covering fire to regroup with the main force.
The drill, a simulation of a bridge defense against Chinese forces , was held after midnight to minimize disruption to the capital's Wanhua cultural district.
But with much of Taiwan's Han Kuang exercise conducted in the bustle of its cities and neighborhoods, it's clear the military wants to train its troops on the very streets they're assigned to defend — while still letting the rest of the island go about its business.
The military police started turning people around as the drill was due to start, though others later wandered onto the scene.
Matthew Loh for Business Insider The practice adds an element of realism to the live drills, giving way to odd scenes where infantry and armored brigades engaged in mock skirmishes or counter-sabotage operations right next to people walking their dogs, going out for a party, or simply living at home.
Troops in urban areas used blanks instead of live ammunition, which was fired only on Taiwan's outlying islands.
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