‘Preparation is our only option’: sirens wail as Taiwan simulates China attack in city streets
As annual drills become increasingly significant, this year’s puts Taipei civilians in urban warfare situations
Usually people in Taipei walk quite slowly. Notoriously so. But at 1.27pm on Thursday some were almost sprinting through the busy shopping district of Ximen. They knew they had three minutes to get where they needed to be without being stuck in the nearest underground bunker for the half an hour.
At 1.30pm exactly, deafening sirens wailed across the city, and a text hit every mobile phone warning that “the enemy has launched a missile attack toward northern Taiwan”.