As Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises moved into their second day, troops turned their attention to one of the island’s most strategically sensitive pieces of infrastructure — the Danjiang Bridge, a key crossing that military planners believe could become a decisive battleground in any future conflict.
The ten-day Han Kuang exercises, launched earlier this week, are designed to test Taiwan’s ability to respond to a potential military assault from China. Beijing continues to claim the self-governed island as part of its territory and has repeatedly stated that it reserves the option of using force to bring Taiwan under its control.
Late Wednesday night, soldiers transformed sections of the newly opened Danjiang Bridge into a defensive zone. Military trucks rolled onto the span as troops unloaded sandbags, erected barricades and stretched coils of barbed wire across designated positions. Engineers worked quickly to establish obstacles intended to slow or block an advancing force.
The bridge spans the mouth of the Tamsui River, which serves as one of the main routes leading toward Taipei. Although located in neighboring New Taipei City, the crossing is regarded by defense experts as a critical access point to the capital.
Despite the military activity, parts of the bridge remained open, allowing cyclists and pedestrians to continue moving through while soldiers carried out the exercise nearby.
Defense analysts monitoring the drills say control of the bridge could prove pivotal in wartime. A hostile force landing along Taiwan’s northern coastline could use the crossing to transport troops, equipment and supplies across the river, creating a direct route toward Taipei’s outer defenses.
According to military observers, maintaining control of the bridge would be essential to preventing an invading army from rapidly expanding its foothold after an amphibious landing. If attackers managed to capture the structure intact and keep it operational, they could establish a logistical corridor connecting coastal landing sites with the capital region.
The latest exercise did not involve a complete shutdown of the bridge. Instead, the operation focused on measuring how quickly military engineers could deploy barriers and what manpower and equipment would be needed to fully seal the crossing during an emergency.
The Danjiang Bridge, which opened earlier this year, is recognized as the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge. Its strategic importance, however, extends far beyond its engineering achievements, making it a central element in Taiwan’s preparations for any future conflict across the Taiwan Strait.
