Taiwan conducts large‑scale resilience drill simulating Chinese blockade, earthquake and invasion

Taiwan held a closed‑door resilience exercise in Nantou, involving more than 370 government and military officials. The two‑day drill combined a seven‑hour tabletop scenario with field operations that simulated a Chinese naval blockade, a 6.8‑magnitude earthquake that killed 12 people, sabotage of infrastructure, a run on banks, civil unrest and a full‑scale invasion. Participants practiced shooting down a Chinese drone threatening a power plant, setting up food‑ration stations, and coordinating reserve commands with local governments.

The exercise used a U.S. military‑developed tactical mapping system alongside Taiwan’s own interactive platforms to visualise emergency response, emphasizing deeper civil‑military integration. As the drill concluded, Taiwan reported that China launched a “joint combat readiness patrol” around the island with warships and at least 22 aircraft, including nuclear‑capable H‑6 bombers. Chinese officials accused Taiwan’s president of deliberately escalating tensions.

Officials said the realistic scenario, drawing lessons from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, was meant to demonstrate that a prepared Taiwanese society would force any adversary to reconsider the costs of a costly war.