00:00As Taiwan's largest ever military exercise, the Han Guang, gets underway,
00:08one focus is on testing the country's urban resilience.
00:12To do that, a rehearsal drill is being held at the supermarkets in downtown Taipei,
00:17preparation for a nationwide civil defense exercise starting on July 17.
00:22The drill includes an air raid alert broadcast,
00:24running through evacuation steps,
00:30handling customers' reactions inside the store,
00:36assisting with emergency medical care,
00:42and finally, lifting the alert.
00:48This is the first time Taiwan is combining two major civilian exercises
00:52under its urban resilience concept.
00:54It is also the first time a major retailer joins the drills.
00:59The rehearsal began at 10 a.m. in three cities, Taipei, Taichung, and Tainan.
01:05The official exercise will take place later in July.
01:09At that time, stores will shut down, only resuming normal operations half an hour later.
01:14The government says this is to show Taiwan's determination to protect itself and its people.
01:20Prepare the people to cope better.
01:22That's an idea that we are trying to tell our society.
01:26But I also want to send a very clear signal to the international community.
01:30It's that Taiwan is very committed to our own security.
01:35So we won't back down in any forms.
01:39As China's security threat to Taiwan continues to grow,
01:42people here say hardening the country's civil resilience is a good course of action.
01:48This year's civilian exercise features a real-time, unscripted approach.
02:06That means the drills are not fully planned out in advance,
02:09and emergency equipment only arrives on sites the day off.
02:13Evaluators then carry out random scenarios to test how the teams respond on the spot.
02:32This year's Han Guang runs from July 9th to 18th, the longest on record.
02:37With air defense drills requiring public participation,
02:40the exercise highlights the growing resolve of Taiwanese people to take part in national defense.
02:46Joseph Wu and Ellen Liu for Taiwan Plus.
Comments