Official outlines drills in 2026 Urban Resilience Exercises

Taipei, March 19 (CNA) A national security official said Thursday that five air raid drills and other exercises have been planned nationwide as part of this year's Urban Resilience Exercises from April to August.

The five "military-civilian joint air raid drills" are scheduled for August 7-13 in southern Taiwan, central Taiwan, offshore islands, eastern Taiwan and northern Taiwan, Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆), deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council, said at a meeting of the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee under the Presidential Office.

As in previous years, the government will issue cell broadcast messages and sound sirens to inform the public of the start of the drills, with measures focused on government buildings, shopping areas and public transportation stations, Lin said.

In addition, a drill simulating the launch of a Central Joint Emergency Operations Center (CJEOC) will be held over six days during the computer-aided segment of the annual Han Kuang military exercises, scheduled for April 10-24, he said.

The goal, Lin said, is to validate key tasks undertaken by the government to facilitate civilian-military cooperation, train and deploy civilian forces, manage hospitals and shelters, and bolster transportation and communications networks.

From April to July, seven jurisdictions will be selected to participate in whole-of-society defense drills, Lin said, as part of the Urban Resilience Exercises.

The drills will be held over two days, with one day dedicated to tabletop exercises and the other to hands-on exercises covering skills ranging from protecting critical infrastructure to responding to cyberattacks, establishing medical stations and supply depots, and drone operations, he said.

In August, four jurisdictions will take part in evacuation, medical, traffic control and logistics drills as part of the live-troop portion of the Han Kuang drills from Aug. 5-14.

Lin said that, continuing last year's approach, this year's drills will be unscripted and participants will have to act upon receiving prompts.

In remarks before the meeting, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said that by promoting whole-of-society resilience, the government aims to unite the public in upholding peace, democracy and freedom.

"The Chinese Communist Party's military preparations are aimed at realizing its authoritarian expansionist ambitions," Lai said.

"Our preparations are aimed at defending the peaceful status quo and sustaining our survival," he added.