Sirens sound, streets deserted as Taiwan simulates Chinese missile strike

By Fabian Hamacher and Ann Wang

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Sirens rang out, roads emptied and people were ordered to stay indoors in Taiwan's capital Taipei on Tuesday during an annual air-raid exercise simulating a Chinese missile attack.

Sirens sounded at 1:30 p.m. (0530 GMT) for the mandatory street evacuation drills, which effectively shut towns and cities across northern Taiwan for 30 minutes.

An alert, asking people to evacuate to safety immediately, was sent via text message for the exercise named Wan'an, which means everlasting peace.

"Wan'an drill air defence alert. Missiles/rockets are attacking northern Taiwan. Seek shelter nearby," it read, accompanied by a shrill alarm noise.

China, whose government views democratically governed Taiwan as its territory, has ramped up its military pressure over the past four years, including almost daily fighter jet flights into the skies around the island.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, who China reviles as a "separatist", rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims and says only Taiwan's people can decide their future. He has repeatedly offered talks with China but has been rebuffed.

"I hope that we can continue to improve our combat power, not only to reassure the country's people but also to let the world see our determination to protect the country," Lai told military personnel at the Hualien air base on Taiwan's east coast on Tuesday, according to a statement from his office.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.

During the drill, police in Taipei directed vehicles to move to the side of roads and people already not inside were told to seek shelter. Some shops and restaurants pulled down shutters and turned off lights - steps aimed at reducing the risk of becoming a target in the event of a night-time attack.

Sirens sounded 30 minutes later to give the all-clear.

The civil defence drills are taking place at the same time as Taiwan's yearly Han Kuang war games, though they have been curtailed due to the approach of Typhoon Gaemi.

The defence ministry also published pictures of live fire drills that took place on Tuesday morning on the Kinmen islands which sit next to the Chinese coast and were the scene of off-and-on clashes during the height of the Cold War.

In the southern city of Tainan, tanks rumbled through the streets in the early hours of Tuesday, according to separate footage provided by the ministry.

Ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang told reporters at the Hualien air base that there had been nothing particularly out of the ordinary for Chinese military movements around the island during the drills so far.

(Reporting by Fabian Hamacher and Ann Wang; Additional reporting by Walid Berrazeg in Hualien, Taiwan; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)