It was a nightmare scenario for Taiwan: a Chinese blockade, a strong earthquake seized on by Beijing to sow chaos, hijacked television broadcasts, sabotaged infrastructure, a run on banks, civil unrest — and then a full-scale ​invasion. That was the cascading crisis presented to more than 370 government and military officials during an exercise in central Taiwan this week, part of President Lai Ching-te’s push to harden the island’s ‌war preparedness as Chinese military pressure on the democratically governed island intensifies. Reuters was granted rare exclusive access to the closed-door drill, the first such test of whether officials in Nantou, working with central government and military agencies, could keep the mountainous county functioning under attack. Taiwan has been ramping up its so-called “resilience” exercises to prepare civilians and officials for crises ranging from natural disasters to war, moving beyond past drills often criticised as scripted, performative and of limited value.

Full exclusive : Inside Taiwan’s nightmare scenario: Chinese blockade, earthquake, sabotage and invasion.