On July 22, the Republic of China (ROC) armed forces kicked off the live maneuver phase of the 40th iteration of the Han Kuang military exercise (漢光演習), an annual event held since 1984 that is intended to simulate efforts to resist an invasion by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). (Following traditional practice, the exercise was divided into two phases: an earlier virtual phase, involving computer simulations and tabletop exercises, was held from April 19-26—and reportedly involved a scenario in which a Chinese military exercise was used as cover for an actual attack on Taiwan.) The annual Han Kuang exercise is the largest training event on the annual calendar for the ROC armed forces, and accordingly provides an opportunity to view evolving trends in Taiwan’s defense posture. However, previous iterations of Han Kuang have been the subject of criticism on grounds that the exercise is overly scripted, characterized by rigid top-down command structures, and conducted largely for public relations value—and that the exercise therefore provides limited training value in terms of preparing military personnel for the chaos of actual battlefield environments.