By Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee
TAICHUNG/PENGHU, Taiwan, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Taiwan slowed the mobile internet in a large swathe of the central part of the island on Monday for the first time during annual war games, simulating communication disruption in the event of a Chinese attack or natural disaster.
Democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has long lived with the threat of a Chinese invasion and holds air raid drills along with its war games every year, clearing people from the streets for 30 minutes.
During the internet “throttling” drill, centred on Monday on the major central metropolis of Taichung, only basic mobile phone services worked, though other functions including ATMs, traffic signals, landlines and fixed internet services were not affected.
Air raid sirens rang out in Taichung and people cleared the streets from 2:30 p.m. (0630 GMT) as the government sent simultaneous text messages in Chinese and English telling mobile phone users of “simulated air attacks on communication infrastructure”.
The government had widely flagged the drill ahead of time, including posting details on social media, and most people Reuters spoke to at the Taichung train station were prepared.
“Like with the Russia-Ukraine war, they had no internet. Also maybe because Taiwan is a bit more at risk, so this kind of drill might let everyone understand the current situation at that moment — what might happen and how to respond,” said Lin Hong-chun, 46.
Still, there were some grumbles, even if people were generally supportive.
“If possible, I’d still rather stay home and experience it there. Experiencing it outside is really too painful,” said Yen Po-ting, 23, from inside the station where the gates were closed to keep passengers from going outside.
The same exercise will be repeated on Thursday in northern Taiwan, including the capital Taipei.
TAIWAN STRAIT DRILLS
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.
Earlier on Monday, Taiwan’s military simulated repelling a Chinese air landing assault on the strategically vital Penghu Islands.
The 10-day Han Kuang exercise kicked off last week, rehearsing various scenarios should China ever make good on threats to try to seize the island by force.
Reuters was given rare access to the exercise, observing ground troops loading tank ammunition and taking up firing positions in darkness before the drill began.
Troops from the First Theatre Command opened fire in the pre-dawn hours on a beach in Penghu, which sits in the Taiwan Strait, with M60A3 tanks, various artillery pieces and anti-aircraft guns.
The troops were combining to form what the military called a “multi-layered” defence against a simulated enemy attempting a rapid coastal landing.
Penghu, which sits closer to the coast of the main island of Taiwan than to China, is seen by Taiwanese strategists as a potential first target for Beijing, which could try to take the islands and use them as a base to attack Taiwan with missiles and drones.
Reservists from Penghu took part in the exercise, part of their 14-day training programme as Taiwan’s military works to better integrate reserve forces into its operational planning and make its preparations more realistic.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taichung and Yimou Lee in Penghu; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Jamie Freed)
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