Air Raid Sirens Sound Across Taiwan as Military and Civilian Defense Drills Escalate

Taiwan capital Taipei practiced war in the scorching midday sun of thirty minutes.

On Thursday at 13.30, short ring tones of presidential alerts started rattling cell phones across this city of over two million residents."[Air Defense Drill] Missile attack. Seek immediate shelter.”

And after that were the air raid sirens, ricocheting off line after line of concrete office block and concrete apartment block. This tinny, scary voice is immediately familiar, at least to someone who has heard the real thing, and nauseating.

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Loud whistling police officers came out, screaming and demanding that all vehicles to stop. People were forced to leave their vehicles at flashing traffic signs and hide. Buses lay idle without any passengers in full swing streets.

Yellow vests accompanied by volunteer civil defense led populations into basements, subways and shopping malls.

The MRT- the glistening air-conditioned subway line in Taipei continued to run, but people were instructed to stay on platforms.

The city was deserted at level ground. Shops shut down their gates as people and workers looked on as the streets turned in the blink of a second. You were much on the verge of time traveling back to the darkest moments of the coronavirus outbreak.

This is because the threat of an attack or invasion by the giant neighbor to the northwest of Taiwan (that is unarguably looming) is present and yet unspoken. The Communist Party of China holds that Taiwan is one of their territories and ready to snatch it by force.

Although democratic Taiwan is no stranger to such threats, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the growing hysterics brought about by Chinese leader, Xi Jinping and the conflict in the Middle East have shown in sharp focus, the consequences that could be the outcome should peace not prevail.

“I feel nervous when I hear the siren. While China has been there all along, when the sirens go off, it reminds me of that large threat next to us,” said Carl Chu, a Taipei resident. “War could happen anytime. We need to shoulder our own responsibility, be prepared and know how to protect ourselves.”

Jessica Fang, another Taipei resident, added: “Many used to view these drills as a mundane routine. But because of what happened in Ukraine and Israel, this year it feels closer to home. War could happen whether you want it or not, so you have to be prepared for that possibility. These drills make us take it more seriously.”

This year Tiawan had engaged in a new exercise in which the two largest civil defense exercises, Wan An and Min An, would be held simultaneously, across the whole island: the 2025 Urban Resilience Exercise, to be pursued in cooperation with Han Kuang 41, the largest military simulation in the island ever.

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The drills of this year last ten days as compared to the previous drills, which lasted five days. It is no coincidence when this happens. The tensions with Beijing are on the rise. As the polls indicate that the majority of Taiwanese do not believe that invasion is imminent, the government is planning it with seriousness and renewed vigor.

In addition to the sirens and evacuations, the exercise involved mass casualty, emergency supplies drop. The military carried out a live response in Neihu, near the Tri-Service General Hospital, to an hypothetical missile attack. Rebels attacking the mock victims were treated by medics in full protective gear and the roads around were blocked.

In all of Taiwan, reservists (based on the numbers of those who attended during the scenario, not including cancelations) outnumbered 22,000, approximately 50 percent more than in 2012, and covered scenarios spanning urban combat to cyber defense.

Soldiers have practised recently in subway tunnels and exhibition halls, turning the civilian infrastructure into their test battlefields.

The Ministry of Defense has focused on the preparation of the military as well as mobilizing the masses; new contact have been made with outsiders in Taiwan seconded with English instructions on what to do and where to go.

Citizens are also being encouraged by the government to download shelter maps, familiarize themselves with evacuation routes as well as the different tones of the sirens.

On the day when finally the sirens announcing the arrival of the all-clear were heard, Taipei renewed itself in a twinkling.

In a few seconds, the traffic and people were back on the streets as people went on with their lives and attempted to escape summer heat and humidity. The majority of them think that they would be hearing sirens in the next drill.

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