Taiwan has stepped up its measures against a possible Chinese invasion, and on Monday it conducted a mock air strike that emptied roads, forced citizens to take refuge at home and closed some cities for up to 30 minutes.
Alarms sounded at 1:30 pm local time (dawn in Brazil), directing the population to stay indoors, and a missile attack alert was sent to cell phones asking citizens to seek a safe place for shelter.
Ko Wen-je, the mayor of Taipei, said preparations in the event of an eventual war were necessary. It was the first time that the capital had carried out evacuation and airstrike exercises, and official figures say there are more than 4,600 sites that could be adapted to house up to 12.5 million people in the event of an attack.
“Chinese military aircraft have harassed Taiwan frequently in recent years, and there is also the outbreak of the Ukrainian War in February, incidents that remind us that we need to be vigilant in peacetime,” Ko said after the exercises.
In practice, autonomous and independent, Taiwan is considered by Beijing as a rebel province and has been one of the most sensitive points of Xi Jinping’s administration. China has carried out several air raids over the island this year, escalating regional tensions.
As Ko’s speech demonstrated, the outbreak of war in Eastern Europe has raised fears that China will fulfill its promise to incorporate the island. The Taiwanese Armed Forces even published a kind of survival manual for this scenario that includes instructions on food storage and bomb shelters.
Dozens of Taiwanese fighter jets, many manufactured in the United States, participated in the exercises that began on Monday. The island’s Ministry of Defense has directed fighter jets to shelter in underground hangars at the Chiashan air base.
​In the capital, reservists armed with machine guns crossed trenches dug under bridges before moving into attack positions. Su Tzu-yun, a military expert at Taiwan’s National Defense Security Research Institute, told AFP that the underground bunker strategy is part of urban warfare in Ukraine and helps provide cover for troops.
Also on Monday, Beijing confirmed the sending of private alerts to the United States against a possible visit by the US Speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan.
The Japanese-British newspaper Financial Times had reported over the weekend that stern private warnings, interpreted by White House figures as a possible suggestion of a military response, had been sent to Washington. Asked during a daily interview in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the country “will act strongly to respond to the American visit”.
“No one should underestimate the strong determination, will and ability of the Chinese people to defend our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said. “Anyone who dares to challenge China’s red line will be on a collision course with the Chinese people.”
