Between survival exercises, anti -aircraft shelters and continuous cyberattacchi, the island lives in the nightmare of an attack by Beijing. While President Lai strengthens the defense, the population is divided between resistance and fear of escape.
Strazianti screams seem true. The bodies lying on the ground, chairs and overturned tables, alarm sirens and people panicen make the idea of what could happen if the missiles of Beijing they went up Taiwanthe free island of the Far East that China considers its stuff. The first aid exercise is organized byKuma Academywhich uses the black bear as the coat of arms, national symbol, with a shoulder rifle.
“The threats that come from China have convinced patriots to found this association, which realizes survival and civil defense courses to prepare the population for the worst, if we were invaded and a war broke out,” he explains Aha chuhead of the Academy. A woman with a face covered by a mask tells why she is there: «Every day I see terrible scenes on TV. If the conflict broke out I want to know what to do, how to help myself and others to survive ».
The participants, for 70 percent women, fear to come card to Beijing’s services. One of the instructors with a paramedical shirt briefs a fake machine gun rifle. Behind him, on the wall, an Ukrainian flag came from the front of the Donbass With the signatures of the soldiers on the front line and words that leave no doubt: “freedom”, or “kill the communists”.
Daily life in Taipei
It is a sultry heat a Taipeithe “capital” of Taiwan, an island as large as Piedmont and Lombardy, with a lush green even in the midst of skyscrapers with the pagoda -shaped roof. The open city of the Far East, ordered and clean, has 2.8 million inhabitants, kind and available with foreigners. Modernity dilutes with the Taoist temples wrapped in the incense of prayers and the markets collected between the houses where they go for the greatest chicken and soy spaghetti. “Dog that barking does not bite,” he says, simulating the animal with his fingers a tasty rice seller cooked on the spot. “Beijing wants to intimidate us, but I’m not afraid.”
Status quo and politics
85 percent of the population hopes for the maintenance of the status quowhich lasts between ups and downs since 1949, when the nationalist general Chiang Kai-Shek of Kuomintangdefeated by Mao in the civil war, retired to the island. Today there are 23 million Taiwanesi, divided by the mainland from a seaside narrow that measures up to 180 kilometers. From the dictatorship, Taiwan has gone to democracy with Kuomintang, called the “blue”, now available for a compromise with communist China. In power there are the “green” of Democratic progressive party with the president Lai ching-temore independentist, branded by the Chinese as “a parasite that poisons the island”. XI Jinpingthe new Mao of Beijing, has always reiterated that Taiwan is an integral part of the motherland and will be “peacefully reunited”, if possible, or with bad guys.
The silent threat
In the church entrusted to the Italian missionaries of the Fraternity San Carlo Borromeo a New Taipeithe mass is celebrated in mandarin. Christians are less than 2 percent, but father Paolo Costa It is a veteran, it has been here for 23 years: «Lately the concern has increased for a Chinese attack. Until a few years it was said that it was impossible, but now it is feared that it is probable ».
The presidential palace in Taipei dates back to the time of the Japanese employment of the Second World War. Today a symbol of freedom and democracy hosts the national security council. Lin fei-fanthe young number two, has no doubts: “We are already under” silent “attack with sabotage, violations of the air defense identification area, IT war, disinformation campaigns, infiltrations”. And adds surprising numbers: points of 2 million cyber attacks per daythe majority rejected, but some do serious damage. “The submarine cables for telecommunications are sabotaged 7-8 times a year,” Lin denounces. “Only in August we had almost 500 intrusions of Chinese military aircraft.”
Refuges and civil defense
The island has 90 thousand anti -aircraft shelters obtained everywhere: from the subway to underground car parks to the basements of the condominiums. The sign with a red arrow and the word “Air Defgence Shelter” indicates the entrance of spaces equipped with generators and stocks. “In case of alarm there are four square meters per person and we have an autonomous generator,” he explains Kuo-Sung Hsieh. “We are able to host 6 thousand civilians guaranteeing food, water and first aid for the injured in an ad hoc room ten meters underground”.
The exercise Han Kuang
In July the great exercise Han Kuang He simulated the attack of drones and missiles in Taipei, with smoke that got up from the buildings and the lugubrious howl of the air alarm as in Kiev. Civil defense and military in the streets with the population who received apps via apps to reach the nearest refuge.
Opinions and internal divisions
Yalin, who studied musicology in Rome, is pessimistic: «I see her badly. The internal divisions and the harshness of the tones between the Kuomintang and the progressive party have reached very high levels ». For the woman, “something is already happening, an advance of the war that will come with the very strong clash on social media”. His friends have already prepared a survival backpack.
Jia Cheng49 years old, “super green for independence”, would like to unhinge the status quo. «We have never been governed by Communist China and for this we feel free. We don’t have to make a hard muzzle with Beijing, but to arm ourselves to defend ourselves ».
Young people, on the other hand, seem more fearful: “We are worried about tensions and if most of us guys are invaded, he would try to escape,” says a couple of newlyweds.
Armed forces and war scenarios
For fear of reprisals, Taiwan is recognized only by a dozen states, including the Vatican. The defense matters on 200 thousand men And 2 million reservists. President Lai has increased the military budget to 3% of the GDP and started the production of drones. But the goal of 180 thousand aircraft by 2028 is far away. Taiwan has hunting, naval fleet, missiles Himars And Patriotand trained with the Americans.
Ming-shih shenof the National Defense Institute, observes that the Aircraft Vers would take 14 days from the United States and 5 from Guam. But they would risk the Third World War? For the admiral Lee HSI-MIN Beijing’s goal is to make the government capitulate with blocks and naval quarantine. “An invasion could be transformed into a nightmare of guerrilla.”
The strength of the semiconductors
The date with a red line is 2027, a centenary of the popular army of liberation. Meanwhile, Taiwan remains the global technological heart: it produces the 70% of semiconductors95% of the most sophisticated and 100% of those for theartificial intelligence.
Culture and narratives
The TV series is depopulated from August Zero Day Attackwhich deals with the taboo of the invasion. “It’s like an elephant in the room: everyone knows that it could happen, but nobody talks about it,” he explains David Kao. “After Hong Kong and Ukraine we heard the urgency to tell this possibility before it’s too late.”
