TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Ten foreign representative offices have shared information about the country’s ongoing urban resilience and defense mobilization drills, National Security Council deputy secretary-general Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) said Friday.
The drills are part of President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) efforts to strengthen defense readiness. Two-day city and county resilience drills are being held between April and August across 11 jurisdictions, while a nationwide air raid exercise divided into five regions will run from Friday to Aug. 13, according to Business Weekly.
The offices of the US, Japan, the UK, Singapore, the European Union, Australia, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the Czech Republic have shared related information through their websites or social media platforms, according to RTI.
The American Institute in Taiwan launched a series of “Resilient Taiwan” posts on Facebook, highlighting that disaster and crisis response cannot be built through government efforts alone but requires participation from all levels of society. It said preparedness must be developed “one person and one skill at a time.”
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association published guidance on the drills, urging the public to stay calm during air raid alerts and follow official instructions. Representative offices from the UK, Singapore, the EU, Australia, and France also shared information on drill details.
The offices of the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the Czech Republic highlighted the planned mobile internet restriction exercise. The measure will temporarily slow mobile internet services in central and northern Taiwan next week.
Minister without portfolio Chi Lien-cheng (季連成) said Taiwan’s main security challenge is its geographic proximity to China, which lies across the Taiwan Strait. He said defense ultimately depends on self-reliance and noted that public awareness of this reality has been increasing, according to Reuters.
However, Chi said gaps remain in Taiwan’s preparedness, and available resources may not be sufficient in a real emergency. He said continued drills are needed to improve coordination among the central government, local governments, and civil society, while identifying problems and strengthening future responses.
Lin said Taiwan’s resilience efforts are intended to show that any potential conflict would involve significant costs and uncertainty. Such uncertainty could lead potential adversaries to reconsider military action, he added.