'Missile alert': Taiwan holds air-raid exercise amid China tension | Shut down in Taiwan for annual air raid drill to prepare for possible Chinese invasion | 'No more feebleness': Pelosi in showdown with Beijing over potential Taiwan visit

July 27, 2022

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People taking cover inside a basement shelter during the air defence drill, in Taipei, Taiwan, on July 25, 2022. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

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TAIPEI (REUTERS) - Roads emptied and people were ordered to stay indoors in parts of Taiwan, including its capital Taipei, on Monday (July 25) for an air-raid exercise as the island steps up preparations in the event of a Chinese attack.

Sirens sounded at 1.30pm for the mandatory street evacuation drills, which effectively shut towns and cities across northern Taiwan for 30 minutes.

A "missile alert", asking people to evacuate to safety immediately, was sent via text message.

"It is necessary to make preparations in the event of a war," Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je said in a speech after overseeing drills for the exercise named Wan An, which means everlasting peace.

China regards Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunified, by force if necessary.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/missile-alert-taiwan-holds-air-raid-exercise-amid-china-tension

(CNN)House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not easily intimidated. And she has a long record of taking on China. So her current showdown with Beijing over a proposed visit to Taiwan is long in the making.

The proposed trip is causing a commotion in China -- and has the Pentagon and the White House concerned too. US President Joe Biden delicately said that the US military thinks that a visit to Taipei by the 82-year-old speaker was "not a good idea right now." Pelosi's riposte appeared to be tongue-in-cheek: "I think what the President was saying is that maybe the military was afraid of my plane getting shot down or something like that. I don't know exactly."

Blasting a US military jet carrying the speaker out of the sky would be an unthinkable escalation. But there are real world responses China could consider after vowing "resolute and forceful" measures; including imposing a no-fly zone around the self-governing island.

China's response to Pelosi's potential Taiwan visit could be 'unprecedented' but military conflict unlikely, experts say

Now that news of the potential trip has spread, the US will look like it's caving to China if Pelosi doesn't go. And hawks warn Beijing shouldn't have a say in who visits, anyway.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/26/politics/nancy-pelosi-taiwan-visit-showdown/index.html

BEIJING (AP) — Taiwan’s capital staged air raid drills Monday and its military mobilized for routine defense exercises, coinciding with concerns over a forceful Chinese response to a possible visit to the island by U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

While there was no direct link between China’s renewed threats and Taiwan’s defensive moves, they underscore the possibility of a renewed crisis in the Taiwan Strait, considered a potential hotspot for conflict that could envelop the entire region.

Air raid sirens were sounded in the capital Taipei and the military was holding its annual multi-day Han Kuang drills, including joint air and sea exercises and the mobilization of tanks and troops.

In Taipei, police directed people to shelters when a siren went off shortly after lunchtime. Streets emptied and shops closed.

“In recent years, Chinese military planes have frequently harassed Taiwan, and the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out in February this year,” Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je told reporters, referencing concerns that a similar conflict could break out in East Asia. “All these things make us understand the importance of being vigilant in times of peace and we need to be prepared if there is war.”

https://apnews.com/article/biden-beijing-china-taiwan-taipei-92f562e34f24da718b5629d82d3a4e56

https://nypost.com/2022/07/25/taipei-stages-air-raid-drills-as-china-threat-looms/