[!warning] focustaiwan.tw
People shopping at supermarkets or convenience stores in certain townships and districts across Taiwan will be required to go to their nearest air raid shelter!
This marks a break from past Wan An exercises, during which pedestrians often enter their nearest convenience stores when the sirens sound without taking further precautions.
People who refuse to follow guidance to evacuate face a fine of NT$30,000 (US$1,026) to NT$150,000 under the Civil Defense Act.
Mods this should be tagged up front and permanent. Every year, there’s someone who is caught unaware/forgets and ends up complaining later after having been locked some not so nice place for half an hour.
Or else how are we going to make fun of people and say “told you so”?
A few years ago I was in the middle of a 環島–on my scooter, though–and didn’t know (or forgot) one of these drills was scheduled. I was driving through a very small town and sure enough a cop pulled me over and I went inside a convenience store. Luckily, I didn’t get a fine.
Every year, I call this a useless nuisance and a waste of time (just half an hour, but still), but I like that they are telling supermarket owners to tell customers where to find the air raid shelters, this year. It’s still useless for most people. And you don’t have to tell people where the basements are; once the threat is real, everyone will know.
Instead, they should educate everyone on how to prepare for food shortages and blackouts, the most likely things that will happen, not only if attacked by China, but also if struck by a mega earthquake. Every household should have an emergency supply of some kind to be prepared for panic buying when things get nasty, and before food is supplied by the Red Cross or whoever, if ever. Rockets and bombs will not hit the cities like they did Dresden, so these general drills are pointless. Drill the people who will deal with rescue efforts, and pull in as many people as you can to make it an effort by everyone.
[!Danger] Taiwan’s military has incorporated subway-based warfare into its annual Han Kuang drills to prepare for a possible Chinese invasion.
Heavily armed soldiers—including military police and Third Army Command units—trained in Taipei’s metro, practising deployment via escalators, ticket gates, and underground connections between Shandao Temple and Longshan Temple stations. They transported ammunition using service trains and forklifts, honing rapid, urban troop movement .
This 10‑day exercise is the most extensive in the drill’s history, involving nearly 22,000 reservists and integrating civil defence elements. For the first time, U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket systems and previously introduced High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems were deployed . Taiwan is emphasising decentralised command to cope with potential communications breakdowns under attack .
The drills bring military operations into civilian spaces, sending a clear message: in the event of war, combat would unfold “right here”—within daily urban life
