Sirens were sounded at 1.30 pm (0530 GMT) for a mandatory road clearance exercise, effectively shutting down towns and cities, including its capital Taipei, for 30 minutes.
An “air raid warning”, asking people to move to safety immediately, was sent via text message.
“When you receive text messages, please be careful with words like ‘test’ and ‘drill’ and keep calm,” Taiwan’s president said. tsai ing-wen About an hour before the exercise, a reminder to the public on Facebook called for the name Wan An, which means everlasting peace.
China, which views democratically-ruled Taiwan as its territory, has been conducting regular drills around the island for the past three years to pressure Taipei to accept Beijing’s claim to sovereignty despite its strong rejection of the island.
In the bustling shopping district of Ximending in Taipei, some shops downed their shutters and police were instructed
Pedestrians and vehicles including food delivery drivers on motorcycles have been asked to move to the roadside and take shelter.
Tourists were seen taking shelter at a subway station with luggage, some shocked and not sure what had happened.
“I heard sirens and I got worried, not knowing what happened, especially we are foreigners in a foreign country.”
said Lee Jang Ho, a tourist from South Korea.
Among various drills conducted by the authorities in Taipei, some citizens were instructed to cover their eyes and ears with their hands and keep their mouths open in basement parking lots to reduce the impact of the blast waves from the missiles.
To make everything clear, the siren was sounded after 30 minutes. Other parts of Taiwan, where periodic air-raid drills are required by law, will hold road clearance drills this week.
Beijing has intensified its warnings against visits by Taiwan’s vice president and president to the United States
William Lai, who was at the forefront the following month, while the top US diplomat in Taipei urged China not to act “provocatively” in response to the brief transit.