A sailor onboard a warship of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy conducts reconnaissance on a military vessel of the island of Taiwan during the Joint Sword-2024A exercise around Taiwan island on May 24. Photo: PLA Eastern Theater Command

The island of Taiwan on Monday launched the live action phase of its annual Han Kuang exercise, claiming to mimic actual combat in which the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) blockades the island.

Slamming the exercise as a futile attempt to resist reunification by force, mainland experts said that the "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces overestimated their capabilities, and the island's military cannot preserve its forces or receive supplies from external forces.

The 40th annual Han Kuang exercise began on Monday and is scheduled to last until Friday, with an emphasis on testing the island's ability to protect critical infrastructure in Taipei and enhance the resilience of key infrastructure across the island, media on the island reported.

A drill session will also test cooperation between the military and civilians when carrying out wartime supply missions at a major port to ensure links to the outside world remain open in the event of a Chinese mainland blockade, media on the island reported, citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter.

One point of emphasis on day one of the exercise is testing the island's sustainment and maintenance of combat capabilities in the event of a reunification-by-force operation by the PLA, as fighter jets originally deployed in the western part of Taiwan were dispatched to eastern Hualien and Taitung air bases early Monday, media quoted the island's defense authority as saying.

Reuters reported on Monday that this year's Han Kuang war game aims to be as close as possible to actual combat with no script, and has canceled elements that were mostly for show, such as scripted firepower displays.

In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press conference on Monday that any attempt to heighten tensions and to seek "Taiwan independence" or resist reunification through the demonstration or use of force will simply fail.

Zhang Junshe, a Chinese mainland military expert, told the Global Times on Monday that while the island claimed this year's Han Kuang exercise is unscripted, it is at best an unscripted show.

The setting of the drill sessions exposed the exercise as actually aiming for nothing more than to ensure the survival of the DPP authorities, buying time and waiting for reinforcement from external forces such as the US, and using the general public on the island as shields, Zhang said.

Such attempts to resist reunification by force are futile, and the DPP authorities have severely underestimated, or pretended not to see the PLA's overwhelming capabilities, another Chinese mainland military expert, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times on Monday.

Previous PLA exercises around the island of Taiwan have already demonstrated its capabilities in surrounding the island from its east, destroying military facilities on its eastern side and cutting off routes for secessionists to escape or receive external reinforcements, the expert said.