Taiwan on alert: the island is preparing for a possible Chinese attack

Taiwan was briefly paralyzed Thursday by air alert sirens calling for thousands of inhabitants. Meanwhile, to take refuge in underground shelters during an exercise simulating a Chinese attack. Nevertheless, This annual civil year is organized this week in several cities in Taiwan. In addition, in parallel with military training, in order to prepare the island for a possible invasion of Beijing.

China considers Taiwan as one of its provinces. In addition, which it has not yet managed to unify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Consequently, At 1:30 p.m. Similarly, (05:30 GMT), sirens began to sound in Taipei paralyzing the capital of 2.5 million inhabitants for about half an hour. Furthermore, Traffic has been interrupted and the inhabitants were directed to subsoil shelters and metro stations.

Tracy Herr, 50, went to a taiwan alert: island preparing possible temple when she heard the air raid mermaid. She took refuge in a metro station where other people were sheltering. Showing a group of young women sitting on the ground. chatting, Tracy Herr notes that the Taiwanese have “lived too comfortably for too long” And that some do not take the air raid exercise seriously. The exercises also involve a distribution of aid of warfare aid and a incident causing a large number of victims.

You could see in the Taiwanese capital Thursday dozens of people queuing three distribution points to receive bags of rice. cooking oil and salt. Since his entry into office last year. the Taiwanese president Lai Ching-Té has been working to educate the public about the threat that China represents, according to him.

“I think it is necessary because the tensions between the two banks of the strait are very lively at the moment”confides to AFP Oscar taiwan alert: island preparing possible Wang. 25 years old. “”It is therefore important for us, the average citizens, to familiarize themselves with the evacuation routes. Additionally, “

Taiwan gave the start of his annual military exercises last week, which ends on Friday. In addition to the Taiwanese troops. 22,000 reservists are mobilized – the greatest number never summoned during these maneuvers which have taken place since 1984, when Taiwan still lived under the yoke of martial law.

Taiwan alert: island preparing possible

Difficult urban ground for armored vehicles

“It is as much a training as a awareness of the Taiwanese population to the reality of modern war”observes Kitsch Liao. member of Atlantic Council, an American reflection group of heavily armed troops, equipped with stinger anti-aircraft missiles supplied by the United States, stormed the Taipei metro during a night exercise.

High-tech mobile missiles from the United States have also been deployed around the capital. elsewhere, at the sight taiwan alert: island preparing possible of everyone. And the customers of a Taipei supermarket recently participated in a simulating exercise a shot of Chinese missile on. the city.

“I didn’t know there would be an exercise”Yang Shu-Ting, 70, told AFP after taking part. “My heart was beating very hard and I was inevitably nervous. I think the goal is to let you know where you have to hide if something happens.” The troops have also simulated various scenarios. including harassment known as “gray zone” – a concept of international relations designating hostile tactics but not under the open war.

Several minor collisions involving military vehicles during the exercises highlighted the difficulty of maneuvering in the narrow streets of Taiwan. Defense expert Chieh Chung. researcher at the Strategic Foresight, a Taipei -based reflection group, believes that such incidents are “Difficult to avoid” in urban areas.

“In Taiwan, many roads and bridges are important obstacles for armored vehicles”he explains. taiwan alert: island preparing possible “It therefore becomes a problem and an obstacle both for attacker forces and for defensive forces.”