Taipei
Once a year, the sound of sirens sounds throughout Taiwan. Cars are told to stop and civilians to seek shelter. For 30 minutes, life comes to a standstill and the military conducts air raid training operations. These exercises, called "Wan-an" and have been taking place for forty-six years. It is the largest civil defense exercise on the island of 24 million people, which is plagued by Beijing's greed.
Training Taiwanese Citizens
"It's kind of a show," says Lin Bin-you. It only teaches civilians to seek shelter when the alarm sounds." In his office on the outskirts of Taipei, the city councillor collects replica firearms, military equipment and memorabilia from his time in Ukraine in the summer of 2022. "I wanted to visit Ukraine because I'm worried about Taiwan," says the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member. The man is critical of his own camp, which has been in power on the island since 2016. "The DPP is reluctant to...
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