TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Marines have reportedly been dispatched to Taipei's Songshan Airport. 

To strengthen security, the military has assigned the 66th Marine Brigade and the 202nd Military Police Command to defend Greater Taipei. Marine units have reportedly been moved forward from the Political Warfare Academy into urban Taipei, with over 100 Marines now stationed at Songshan Airport, per Liberty Times. 

The Marines first deployed a battalion to the Political Warfare Academy in Taipei's Beitou District in 2017. The latest forward deployment to Songshan Airport reportedly involves a company-sized force. 

On Lunar New Year's Eve (Jan. 28), Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) visited the Marines, Military Police Command, and Air Force units in north Taiwan on behalf of President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), per the Military News Agency. He thanked the troops on duty during the holiday.

In an article titled, “No holiday for war preparation,” the Military News Agency released photos showing a Marine in tiger stripe camouflage manning a 20mm autocannon mounted on a Humvee parked next to a China Airlines jet. Another image depicted marines operating a 40mm grenade launcher, with civilian buildings next to Songshan Airport visible in the background. 

To prepare for a potential PLA decapitation strike and threats along the northern "red beaches," Taiwan is enhancing the military police’s ability to defend Taipei, per Liberty Times. The Ministry of National Defense has approved a restructuring plan, converting the 66th Marine Brigade into a strategic reserve force directly under the General Staff Headquarters, tasked with joint defense operations alongside the 202nd Military Police Command.

Due to insufficient military police personnel, the plan incorporates the 66th Marine Brigade into defense missions. The restructuring emulates the US Marine Corps transformation model, eliminating tank and artillery battalions while establishing a new drone unit.