Taiwan's reservist drills 'great first step': Retired US admiral highlights need to counter CCP aggression

Taipei [Taiwan], July 20 : A retired US Navy rear admiral, Mark Montgomery, praised Taiwan's mobilisation of over 20,000 reservists in this year's Han Kuang military exercises as a significant step toward strengthening the island's defence capabilities, Focus Taiwan reported.

Mark Montgomery, senior director at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies and a 2017 US Navy retiree, said that the participation of more than 20,000 reservists was a "great first step" in addressing a key defence challenge for Taiwan.

"Taiwan has to redesign their active duty-reserve balance to get it right," he said, stressing that optimising reservist deployment will enhance the island's overall defence.

According to Taiwan's Defence Minister Wellington Koo, the 10-day Han Kuang drills included up to 22,000 reservists, the highest number in the history of the exercises. Despite this progress, Montgomery expressed concern that the Han Kuang drills remain "unilateral Taiwan-only" events with limited US military involvement. "Maybe there are American observers there, but really it's a Taiwan exercise," he said.

Montgomery emphasised that Taiwan cannot confront the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) alone, calling for joint military exercises that include US naval, air, and ground forces.

He referenced the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act of 2023, which directs the US Department of Defence to increase military exercises with Taiwan. "The Han Kuang series is the perfect platform for such training," Montgomery noted, underscoring the need to build interoperability to deter the CCP from taking aggressive actions.

On defence spending, Montgomery said Taiwan's current 3 per cent of GDP allocation is sufficient for now but recommended raising it to 5 per cent by the end of President Lai Ching-te's term.

Montgomery is scheduled to visit Taiwan later this month to participate in war games hosted by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology in Taipei.

The simulations will focus on energy-based economic warfare and cyberattack scenarios, aiming to protect Taiwan's power grid and supply chains from potential disruptions by the PLA or Chinese Coast Guard, Focus Taiwan reported.

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