Presidential Office Stages Civil Defense War Games Simulating Chinese Invasion

TaiwanPlus News

Taiwan's presidential office has staged tabletop exercises simulating how civil society would respond to a Chinese invasion, with a focus on how to protect and repair infrastructure in case of a conflict and how to mobilize civilians.

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00:00Taiwan is practicing how it would lead a civilian response to an attack on the country, and

00:05for the first time, the presidential office is involved.

00:08Bringing together ministries, officials and private observers, the office staged three

00:13hours of exercises simulating military escalations between China and Taiwan that role-played

00:18how civil society would respond, civil society being citizens and non-governmental organizations.

00:25The exercises focused on situations where China used grey zone warfare and where Taiwan

00:30is on the verge of conflict.

00:32The key takeaways?

00:33How to train and actually mobilize civilians, how to best manage resources and protect or

00:38repair critical infrastructure and communication and financial institutions, and medical and

00:44evacuation procedures.

00:46The wargames also identify weaknesses in response mechanisms.

00:50Those participating in the wargames weren't allowed to prepare responses in advance, better

00:54simulating a real conflict scenario.

00:57It all comes at a time of increased threats from China, with several large military drills

01:01around Taiwan just this year.

01:03Naturally, the military will be on the front line of any invasion, but President Lai is

01:08really driving home how important a whole-nation response is to a possible invasion to avoid

01:13panic and total societal collapse.

01:16An analyst Taiwan Plus spoke to earlier says the exercises could serve a secondary purpose

01:21too, a message to Beijing that Taiwan is ready and considering every possible eventuality.

01:27If there is a Taiwan contingency, then it's not only for the jobs of the military, but

01:33also for the whole society.

01:34It's also a sign of the deterrence, because China knows that the whole society is ready

01:43for that, and then it will raise up the cost of using force.

01:48The issue of defence and China is still heavily contentious in Taiwanese politics and among

01:54the public.

01:56And through his heavily publicised civil defence committee, Lai is hoping to unite the nation

02:02in the face of increasing threats from Beijing.

02:05Hank Hsu and Risa is in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.

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