Taiwan Shuts Northern Cities for Air-Raid Drill Amid China Tensions

Taiwan briefly shut down traffic and ordered residents indoors on Thursday as sirens signalled the start of its annual air-raid drill, part of a broader effort to prepare the island for a potential Chinese missile strike. The exercise began at 1:30 p.m. in Taipei, triggering a text alert from the defence ministry and a mandatory 30-minute street evacuation across northern cities. Shops pulled down shutters, vehicles were diverted to roadsides, and those caught outside were told to seek shelter immediately. Authorities have updated civil-defence guidelines this month to tell citizens how to respond if they cannot reach shelters in time or are driving when an alert sounds. The drill coincides with the Han Kuang war games—the island’s largest ever military exercises—which are testing responses to attacks on command systems, infrastructure and disinformation campaigns. Taipei staged the civilian drill amid heightened military pressure from Beijing. In the 24 hours before the exercise, Taiwan’s defence ministry tracked 58 Chinese aircraft around the island, of which 45 crossed the unofficial median line of the Taiwan Strait. President Lai Ching-te has repeatedly offered talks, while rejecting Beijing’s sovereignty claims and stressing that only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.