Emergency air-raid drills held at 3 PX Mart stores in Taiwan

Taipei, July 10 (CNA) Emergency air-raid drills were held Thursday at three PX Mart supermarkets in Taipei, Taichung and Tainan as part of Taiwan's "National Unity Month," which began in July.

The exercises, organized by the National Police Agency (NPA) and involving PX Mart employees and members of the public, began at 10 a.m.

The drills began with an alarm, after which shoppers were guided by PX Mart staff to a designated shelter area within the stores and instructed to kneel with their hands covering their heads, according to the NPA.

The Taipei drill was attended by several officials, including Deputy Interior Minister Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) and Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆), deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council.

The drills also simulated scenarios such as calming panicked shoppers and administering basic first aid, with the goal of helping the public learn to protect themselves and assist others during emergencies, the NPA said.

Ma thanked PX Mart for its cooperation, adding that the government hopes exercises like this will help private businesses respond more effectively to consumer safety during air raids.

PX Mart executive Liu Hung-cheng (劉鴻徵) said the company is willing to cooperate with the government on the drills, but they will be scheduled during off-peak hours to minimize the impact on sales.

Liu said the drills will help the supermarket better prepare for future emergencies, and that customer feedback will be used to make further improvements.

It was the first time PX Mart had partnered with the government for such drills.

Thursday's exercises were a positive first step, as public safety in Taiwan is not solely the government's responsibility, but a shared duty of society, Lin said.

On June 26, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said the newly launched Urban Resilience Exercises will run alongside this year's Han Kuang exercise to strengthen Taiwan's whole-of-society defense resilience through civil-military cooperation.

Noting PX Mart's participation in the July resilience drills, Lai said every role and contribution is "an indispensable part" of safeguarding national security.