Chinese drill sparks talk of ‘decapitation’ strike on Taipei

Display of ‘political intimidation’ leads Taiwan to beef up security measures

- Yip Wai Yee Taiwan Correspondent

Under cover of darkness, three drones soared overhead, identifying and surveilling a building below.

A special forces team then used military crossbows to neutralise perimeter guards before storming the building. Within two minutes, four mock terrorists were “killed”.

These scenes were part of a recent drill carried out by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which released footage of it on a military channel by the state-run China Central Television (CCTV) on Jan 15.

While the mock targets were described as “terrorists”, the drill bore the hallmarks of a so-called “decapitation” strike - a military operation aimed at removing the leadership of a government to paralyse its decision-making.

On the same day, CCTV televised an interview with a Chinese scholar, who said that the PLA has long had contingency plans targeting the direct removal of “Taiwan independence ringleaders”, including Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te.

“Once the decision is made to act, the PLA will be certain of its success to take down Lai,” declared Associate Professor Hu Yong, an international relations expert at Shanghai University of International Business and Economics.