In the stillness of a small village on the outskirts of this central Taiwanese city, two CM-34 “Clouded Leopard” armored vehicles rumbled down narrow country lanes, unloading soldiers tasked with countering a simulated Chinese landing force pushing inland.
On the other side of town, two CM-11 “Brave Tiger” battle tanks concealed behind a community center fired mock rounds at a rice paddy, the blasts echoing through the village.
In years past, Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang exercises have been staged on military bases, along desolate coastlines and generally out of sight for the average resident of Taiwan, a democratically self-governed island at the center of regional tensions in the Asia-Pacific.
This year, the drills feel like something else entirely: They are twice as long, larger than ever in scale and far more visible in everyday life, spilling into the parking area outside a Costco, onto subway cars zipping underneath the capital city of Taipei and into viral social-media posts. In one case, a tank inadvertently sideswiped a passing car. In another, several tanks ended up outside the American big-box retailer’s store in the southern city of Tainan.
No longer does Taiwan conduct annual Han Kuang exercises in a secluded area for a short time. Now, it's out in the open–even in the parking lot of Costco!–and goes for longer. The island's stress is building because China's threats are rising.https://t.co/43vnqU9grl
— Derek J. Grossman (@DerekJGrossman) July 17, 2025