January 21, 2026
TAIPEI – 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.
These thinly veiled threats have sparked discussion in Taiwan, where analysts say the drill was intended to be a show of intimidation towards the administration of Mr Lai, whom Beijing distrusts and has repeatedly branded a “dangerous separatist”.
“China is demonstrating political intimidation, and the drill is intended to put pressure on Taiwan and its leaders,” said Dr Su Tze-yun, a military expert at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defence and Security Research (INDSR), a think-tank.
The possibility of a decapitation strike appears to have prompted Taiwan to step up security measures.
On Jan 18, Taipei’s military police command revealed that one of its newly formed units has been equipped with US-made Stinger anti-air missiles and Javelin anti-tank systems.
Taiwan has in recent years strengthened its military police force in the capital, which serves as the hub for the presidency, government, and top-level defence command.
The 202nd Command, which is responsible for protecting the residences of the president and vice-president, among other duties, has doubled in size from 5,000 to about 10,000 personnel since 2024.
According to Mr Thomas Lim, a military expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, the Stinger missile provides ground soldiers with the capability to respond to aerial threats at low altitudes, such as helicopters and drones.
As for the Javelin systems, they are used to deal with fortifications including military vehicles and enemy bunkers, and are typically used at closer ranges against armoured targets such as tanks, he said.
“The commonality between the two is their mobility and manpower requirements – both assets can be deployed by a single soldier, and are ‘lightweight’,” he told The Straits Times.
“Having aerial coverage (of the Stingers) can provide a significant psychological boost for ground soldiers to complete their mission taskings,” he added.
International interest has grown in decapitation strikes following the United States’ capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro on Jan 3.
While experts believe Maduro’s capture would have little direct impact on China’s longstanding approach for “reunification” with Taiwan – which Beijing views as an internal matter – it has served as a reminder to Taiwan of the importance of strengthening its resilience.
One day after the Venezuela operation, Taiwan’s Vice-Minister of Defence Hsu Szu-chien gave assurances that the island has long prepared for similar contingencies, including having detailed plans involving secret escape routes and reinforced bunkers.
Experts also noted how Taiwan’s air defence and radar systems are fundamentally more advanced and integrated than those in Venezuela, where Chinese-built radars had reportedly failed to track American stealth fighters effectively.
“What we use in Taiwan are quite advanced high-tech reconnaissance and command systems sold to us by the US,” said Associate Professor Chen Shih-min, a security analyst at National Taiwan University.
“China’s drill hopes to serve as a warning that it has the capability to do what the US did in Venezuela, but Taiwan is not Venezuela,” he added.
Chinese forces appear to have been planning possible decapitation strikes against Taiwan for years.
In 2015, CCTV aired footage of PLA soldiers conducting a mock assault at a training site in northern China that closely resembled Taiwan’s Presidential Office Building.
The site now includes replicas of other key Taiwanese government buildings, such as the ministries of foreign affairs and national defence, with the total training area expanding nearly threefold since 2020, according to satellite imagery analysed in October 2025 by think-tank Japan Institute for National Fundamentals.
During China’s recent war games surrounding the island in December 2025, decapitation was a key theme, with armed forces carrying out simulated attacks against specific targets, according to Senior Colonel Zhang Chi of China’s National Defence University.
“This signifies that the PLA has formidable capabilities to deliver precise sanctions against the principal ‘Taiwan independence’ criminals whenever necessary,” he said in an interview with Chinese state media.
For now, Taiwan-based analysts remain confident in the island’s defence capabilities.
The INDSR’s Dr Su said if the scenario broadcast on Jan 15 was used to allude to a possible decapitation strike, it would likely end in failure.
“Bows and arrows make less noise, but their usage here shows that the combat capabilities of China’s special forces units may actually be relatively limited,” he noted.