Taiwan issues first war survival handbook amid China threat

Taiwan’s military released a handbook on civil defence for the first time on Tuesday, giving
citizens survival guidance in a war scenario as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine focuses
attention on how the island should respond to China’s pressure.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, and has
stepped up military activities nearby in the past two years, to press it into accepting its
sovereignty claims.

Taiwan’s handbook details how to find bomb shelters via smartphone apps, water and food
supplies, as well as tips for preparing emergency first aid kits.

Planning for the handbook pre-dates Russia’s attack on its neighbour, which has prompted
debate on its implications for Taiwan and ways to boost preparedness, such as reforms to
the training of reservists.

“(We) are providing information on how citizens should react in a military crisis and possible
disasters to come,” Liu Tai-yi, an official of the ministry’s All-out Defence Mobilisation unit,
told an online news conference.

That would enable safety preparedness and help people to survive, he added.

He said the handbook, which draws from similar guides issued by Sweden and Japan, would
be further updated with localised information such as the sites of shelters, hospitals and
shops for daily needs.

The handbook uses comic strips and pictures with tips to survive a military attack, such as
how to distinguish air raid sirens and ways to shelter from missiles.

Taiwan has not reported any sign of an imminent invasion planned by China, but has raised
its alert level since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special
military operation”.

President Tsai Ing-wen has vowed repeatedly to defend the island and is overseeing a broad
modernisation programme to make its forces more mobile and harder to attack.

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 Taiwan issues first war survival handbook amid China threat

Besides the plans unveiled last year to reform training for reserve forces, the government is
looking to extend compulsory military service beyond four months.

Reporting by Yimou Lee; Editing by Clarence Fernandez

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect the views of The Kootneeti Team

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