Sirens blare and the streets empty out. Taiwan prepares itself for war

It’s the middle of the day in bustling Taipei , but the streets are empty and the shops have pulled down their shutters.

Air raid sirens ring out and a second message tells me that simulated air attacks on the country’s communications infrastructure have cut the mobile internet.

None of my WhatsApp messages or emails are loading. The online apps on my phone won’t work.

This is what could happen if China attacked Taiwan.

But today, luckily, this is only a drill.

It is part of the annual Han Kuang military exercises , which this year included Lai Ching-te, the Taiwanese president, being evacuated from his residence in the middle of the night, as if his life were in imminent danger.

The two-week-long drills include simulations of Chinese naval blockades and aerial assaults, and test Taiwan’s ability to maintain sovereignty and protect its citizens.

China has stepped up its military aggression towards Taiwan, carrying out frequent patrols around the island and launching cyber attacks on its government agencies.

“It’s important to practise so that if there is an attack, we will be prepared,” said Huang Smith, a 37-year-old owner of a phone repair shop in Taipei.

“The more times we do the drill, the more familiar we are in how to respond if there is a Chinese attack or disaster,” he added.

The exercises evolve from year to year, incorporating new simulations to mirror China’s expanding threat.

This year was the first time that mobile internet was cut, to rehearse what would happen if China took out Taiwan’s communication towers.

“We rely heavily on the internet, it’s an important part of our life. Without it we lose access to information so there would be a huge impact if it was cut,” said Mr Smith.

Cyber attacks are a real threat to Taiwan. Only last month, Taipei said it had detected unprecedented AI-assisted cyber-attacks on government agencies from overseas.

Thursday’s blackouts were tested in 14 cities and counties. The Telegraph observed the drills in a northern part of Taipei, where there was a night market, the Taipei Performing Arts Centre and a metro station.

Chiang Wan-an, the city’s mayor, was inspecting the response protocol.

“This is the first time we have conducted a drill simulating a disruption in internet communications. We hope that when the public faces such a disruption, they will remain calm and quickly find a shelter,” Mr Chiang told reporters.

The air raid siren is a staple in the Han Kuang drills and aims to replicate one of the more extreme scenarios Taiwan could face – a surprise missile attack from China.

Police were deployed to the streets to make sure that everyone stayed inside. At one point, an officer pulled over a man driving a motorbike and escorted him into a nearby pharmacy.

Those who failed to comply with the sheltering orders could face a fine of up to £3,500.

Mr Lai has made civilian preparedness a priority for his administration since he took office more than two years ago.

The British Office in Taipei filmed a video of Wayne Ives, its acting representative, preparing his “go bag” – emergency bags filled with anything from sweets to a gas mask that can be quickly grabbed if China were to stage an attack.

In the video, Mr Ives is seen packing sunscreen, tea, a Paddington Bear toy and an instructional handbook issued by Taiwan with guidelines on how to act if war broke out.

The latest civilian-resilience portion of the drills follows a week and a half of military training and live-fire tests.

Last week, The Telegraph observed a drill in which soldiers on one of Taiwan’s outlying islands staged a counter-operation to “recapture” a power plant.

There were other additions to the exercises, including the inauguration of a new Littoral Combat Command, which was created to unify anti-ship missiles, mobile radars and drones in one force to defend the seas and outlying islands around Taiwan.

Brand new American-made M1A2T tanks were also deployed for the first time and civilian factories were repurposed to produce weapons.

While many Taiwanese thought the drills were useful, others were less confident.

Hsiao Wen, a 30-year-old sales associate, did not think the drill would do much to protect Taiwan.

“Even if there’s a war, there is nothing we can do,” she said. “Taiwan is in a weak position in terms of defence so practising won’t help much.”

China’s defence budget, £208bn this year, is approximately 11 times bigger than Taiwan’s, and its military is larger and stronger in almost every way.

Taiwan’s 169,000-strong active military staff are backed by some 1.66 million reservists.

China’s People’s Liberation Army , by comparison, has more than two million active soldiers and 500,000 reservists.

Most experts agree that if China invaded, Taiwan would struggle to maintain sovereignty without the support of the US, which refrains from publicly committing to a position.

Washington, especially under the Trump administration, has been pushing Taipei to increase its defence spending and domestic defence production.

However, resistance from the country’s main opposition party has seen many of these efforts thwarted.

In response to a question from The Telegraph on Thursday on how the US saw Taiwan’s annual drills, Elbridge Colby, the US undersecretary of war, did not on the specifics of the exercises.

Instead, he said that countries had “to be strong to ensure that you can prevent that outcome”.