It’s a typical day in Taiwan, and China is conducting yet another round of military drills. As Chinese warships and planes yet again aggressively circle around Taiwan, Taipei scrambles its military to defensive positions across the island. Among the most important is a cohort of mobile ground units carrying anti-ship missiles to deter Chinese ships from invading. But unknown to the Taiwanese, their movements are exposed, and their supposedly secretive hideouts are readily tracked by China’s intelligence. If this were an actual war, they would be seconds away from destruction.
This was an actual chain of events in May, just days after Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te was inaugurated on May 20. Beijing accuses Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party of pursuing independence for Taiwan—but it takes very little nowadays to provoke China into imposing another round of exercises around the island it claims as part of its territory.
On May 23, Taipei dispatched its military to confront China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the air and the sea just as before, though again no shot was fired. The Chinese exercises soon ended, and Taiwan’s ruling government went on a victory lap, claiming that its military had everything under control and people should rest assured.
But days later in June, an article appeared on WeChat, China’s largest social media platform. It was published by Beijing Lande Information Technology Co., a Beijing-based Chinese company that says it offers “research and consulting services” in the defense and security fields. The article, accessible publicly on WeChat, showcases the company’s ability to collect intelligence on Taiwan’s military.
The focus was a fleet of ground-based missile units of the Taiwanese military and their movements during the Chinese exercises in May. The Hai Feng Group, meaning “sea blade,” is among the most strategically important parts of Taiwan’s defenses. Operated by the Republic of China (ROC) Navy on land, Hai Feng fields Taiwan’s indigenous anti-ship missiles: the subsonic Hsiung Feng II (HF-II) and the supersonic HF-III, which could be the island’s last line of defense against a Chinese invasion making it to shore. They will also operate the Harpoon missiles made by the United States, though delivery has been chronically delayed.
The Chinese article offered the exact coordinates of 12 bases where Hai Feng units are stationed. Experts say fixed bases aren’t hard to find, and the Taiwanese military assumes that Beijing knows the locations, which is why mobile forces such as Hai Feng were designed—so they can spread across Taiwan and survive the initial onslaught in a war. At least in theory.
Locations of Hai Feng Anti-Ship Missile Unit Bases and Launchers
