TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Presidential Office on Sunday denied a Guardian report that Taiwan has plans to use convenience stores as “wartime hubs.”
Presidential Office Spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) told CNA that the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee has discussed the involvement of large retail chains, with some participants sharing disaster relief experiences and suggesting public-private cooperation based on international models. “However, the government has not yet made any specific plans, as reported by the media,” said Kuo.
Kuo said that to enhance whole-of-society defensive resilience, government agencies continue to assess and verify five key areas:
- Civilian force training and utilization
- Strategic material preparation and critical supply distribution
- Energy and critical infrastructure operations and maintenance
- Social welfare, medical care, and evacuation facility readiness
- Information, transportation, and financial network protection
She said the government already has a distribution station mechanism for strategic supplies and continues to refine it based on principles of safety, accessibility, and professionalism. Kuo said this would draw from both domestic and international best practices.
However, the spokesperson stressed that police officers would not be deployed to the front lines, as the report claimed. Instead, she said police would focus on critical civil defense roles such as maintaining public order, regulating traffic and logistics, and protecting key infrastructure.
Kuo said that enhancing resilience and being prepared for all scenarios are key principles in establishing a more comprehensive, safe, and accessible supply network in the face of complex disasters or emergencies.
She added that during the pandemic, private distribution businesses and volunteer service organizations joined the efforts to distribute masks and alcohol-based sanitizers. Kuo said these experiences will be incorporated into the whole-of-society national defense resilience framework in the future.
On Saturday, the Guardian reported that the government allegedly plans to turn Taiwan’s 13,000 convenience stores into wartime hubs. In the event of a Chinese attack, the public would be directed to nearby convenience stores to receive rationed food and medical supplies.
The report also claimed that if war were to break out, government planners “expect Taiwan’s military and maybe police will be sent to frontlines,” leaving civil emergency responders to manage public order and care for the civilian population.
