From Tuesday’s Taiwan News:
Taiwan is performing a computerized military exercise which for the first time focuses on attacking a Chinese aircraft carrier, it was reported yesterday.
The scenario of a five-day drill – part of a military maneuver codenamed "Han Kuang 23" is that in 2012 the People’s Liberation Army launch a blitz on the island after they acquire their first aircraft carrier…
In the drill beginning yesterday, the Taiwanese navy armed with home-made "Hsiungfeng II" ship-to-ship missiles and the improved version of supersonic "Hsiungfeng III" missiles is to simulate launching its arsenal against a Chinese aircraft carrier…
The Taiwan air force’s F-16 fighters would also simulate attacks on the carrier using U.S.-made Harpoon missiles…
UPDATE (May 17/07): This is an update which really should have been done about a month ago. The April 22nd edition of the China Post reveals that this report was false:
The simulated war games didn’t cover the use of nuclear weapons or Taiwan military attacks on China’s aircraft carrier battle groups as some media outlets had speculated, the sources said.
The Taipei Times emphasized the positive, final outcome of the computer simulation:
The complex simulation involved a scenario of China invading Taiwan in 2012.
[…]
In the simulation, Chinese ships ferry forces to the island, backed by heavy missile barrages and pinpoint air strikes on Taiwanese military bases and other strategic facilities.
The "invaders" then establish beachheads along Taiwan’s west coast, though their arrival is delayed for days by Taiwanese missile strikes on Chinese military bases and by Taiwanese navy counterattacks.
The simulation saw western Taiwan radar stations, missile bases and airports suffer heavy damage, but ground forces held down casualty numbers by taking cover in specially prepared areas.
After two weeks of fierce fighting, Taiwan’s army corners and destroys the Chinese invaders.
[…]
The computer simulation envisioned no role for the US in the fighting, [Marine Lieutenant General Hsu Tai-sheng] said, despite expectations that Washington would assist Taiwan if China attacked.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s China Post played up the devastation angle:
In the mock counterattacks, Taiwan’s troops struck coastal Chinese military targets and cities with such weapons as cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles.
[…]
In the first three days of the simulated Chinese invasion, Taiwan incurred severe human and material losses from China’s saturated ballistic missile assault, as well as its naval and aerial bombardment.
However, Taiwan’s armed forces managed to get up to steam to stage counterattacks on China’s coastal military targets and its major cities, causing heavy human casualties and major destruction.
In the warfare scenario, the military strikes not only take a heavy toll on the economic well-being of both sides of the Taiwan Strait, but also adversely impact the global economy and cause a worldwide panic.
In the end, the United States and other Western countries jointly mediated a ceasefire.
Of course, the U.S. probably wouldn’t be in a position to mediate a ceasefire if it were to come to Taiwan’s aid. At any rate, U.S. officials were present, and presumably spoke to a few of Taiwan’s armed forces to try to get a handle on troop loyalty:
Meanwhile, the sources said, the U.S. observation group focused in particular on assessing the Taiwan military personnel’s "combat spirit" to see whether their morale has been affected by the prolonged political infighting that has cast a long shadow over society since the transition of power between different political parties back in 2000.
In weighing the military’s "combat spirit," the sources said, the U.S. delegation wanted to determine whether Taiwan would likely lean toward China and whether any advanced U.S.-built weaponry systems or sophisticated defense strategies would end up in the hands of the Chinese communists.