As of 18th May 2018, two grave accidents have plagued the rehearsals for the annual Han Kuang military exercises in Taiwan. On Thursday morning, Commander Chin Liang-Feng, who was participating in the 6:00 am military drills, fell to the ground from a 1300 feet freefall after he jumped out of his C-130H plane, but the parachute failed to open. Chin was immediately transferred to the Tungs’ Taichung Metro Harbor Hospital so that he could receive medical attention.
Soon after this accident at the Chingchuangkan Air Force Base, an incident was revealed to the public informing them about an accident which occurred during the AAV-7AA RAM/RS Assault drills where a marine named Kao was caught between the wheels of the amphibious vehicle. Kao’s life jacket had become entangled with the wheel mechanism of the vehicle, causing him to collide with the weapon, effectively crushing his right face and right arm. Kao had also been transported to a military hospital in Kaohsiung at the earliest notice.
These Han Kuang drills are military maneuvers held by Taiwan which helps to prepare for any possible invasions by China. This year, the maneuver is scheduled to take place from the 4th to the 8th of June. The entire exercise is divided into two parts, the Command Post Exercise, and the Fuel Training Exercises, the latter of which is technologically simulated to resemble a war-like scenario. The Han Kuang maneuver consists of a total of 34 different drills. From 4th June to the 8th, four major categories of live-fire drills are expected to be conducted – the central joint anti-air machine drop operations, the northern anti-landing operations, the southern anti-landing operations, and the sea-air joint operations.