Taiwan denies convenience stores will be used as wartime hubs

Taipei, April 13 (CNA) Taiwan's Presidential Office on Sunday denied media reports suggesting the government plans to use tens of thousands of convenience stores as "wartime hubs" in the event of a cross-strait war, saying it has no such "specific plan."

An article in the British newspaper The Guardian reported on Saturday that if domestic rail lines were shut down, airspace closed to commercial traffic, and internet and phone services disrupted during a Chinese invasion, Taiwanese people could seek help from local convenience store chains.

"If all this happened, Taiwanese residents could walk to one of the island's more than 13,000 convenience stores to pick up rations and medical supplies, delivered by the chains' own logistical transport systems," the report said, quoting four unnamed sources familiar with the discussions under the Presidential Office's Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee.

"They could read government communications which have been faxed to the stores and displayed on the window. Or maybe they would be able to send a message using the store's emergency hotspot," said the report.

The Guardian article said that the idea was being discussed by the committee created by President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) to make Taiwanese society more resilient in the event of an attack or natural disaster.

In response to the report, Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) told CNA that the idea of turning civilian distributors into emergency hubs had been brought up by retail industry representatives during a round of meetings held by the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee.

These representatives shared how they supported the public after the 921 earthquake struck central Taiwan in 1999, according to Kuo.

Kuo said that although this was useful information for the government, the Lai administration has not actually begun making the type of plans mentioned in the Guardian report and other media reports.

In fact, the government has an existing plan for setting up wartime distribution stations to distribute "strategic materials," the spokesperson said.

She also denied that Taiwan's police "will be sent to frontlines" during a Chinese invasion, as the Guardian report suggested might happen.

The Guardian said: "No one knows for sure what a Chinese attack on Taiwan will look like, but there are some assumptions made by government planners.

"They expect Taiwan's military and maybe police will be sent to frontlines, leaving civilian first responders in charge of care and control."

Kuo emphasized that the nation's police will be responsible for maintaining social order and logistics and safeguarding key infrastructure during wartime, but will not be sent to the frontline.

The Presidential Office formed the advisory group, Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee, in June 2024.

The committee has pledged to enhance Taiwan's resilience by training civilian forces, securing strategic and critical supplies, reinforcing energy and key infrastructure, and ensuring the continued operations of medical, transportation, information and financial facilities.

The committee has so far held three rounds of meetings, most recently on March 27 during a civil defense drill in Tainan.