Taiwan Rehearses Blockade, Sabotage and Invasion in ‘Nightmare Scenario’ Drill

Simulated hackers breached government networks. State television went dark before returning with hijacked broadcasts. Residents queued outside banks as authorities rehearsed a cascading national emergency. Then came the mock invasion.

Taiwanese personnel participating in a large-scale defense readiness exercise.. Source: Bloomberg / Bloomberg via Getty Images

More than 370 officials from Taiwan’s central and local governments took part in the two-day resilience exercise in Nantou County, where authorities rehearsed a Chinese naval blockade alongside cyberattacks, infrastructure sabotage, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake and a mock invasion, according to Reuters, which was granted rare access to the closed-door drill.

Nantou, Taiwan’s only landlocked county, was designated a “rear area” where civilians fleeing other regions would seek refuge and military operations could continue if coastal areas came under attack. Dozens of local government units joined by livestream, responding to rapid-fire questions from commanders on issues ranging from overnight mobilization of draft-age men to emergency stocks of baby formula.

Rather than simulating a conventional invasion alone, organizers tested how multiple crises could unfold simultaneously. Professional hackers targeted government networks and civic portals, television broadcasts were hijacked to assess responses to propaganda and disinformation, a simulated bank run tested financial resilience, and officials responded to drone strikes on critical infrastructure. One scenario forced the exercise’s command center to evacuate to a backup location while the earthquake compounded wartime disruption, damaged infrastructure and emergency relief efforts.

Chi Lien-cheng, the minister without portfolio overseeing the exercise, told Reuters the drill reflected Taiwan’s proximity to China and warned that available resources could prove insufficient during a real emergency.

The exercise took place as Beijing continues military pressure around Taiwan while rejecting Taipei’s government and maintaining its claim over the island. Lin Fei-fan, deputy secretary-general of Taiwan’s National Security Council, said military reserve commands coordinated directly with local governments throughout the drill.

The exercise did not indicate that an attack is imminent. Instead, it reflected Taiwan’s continuing effort to prepare for a crisis that officials increasingly believe would combine military operations with cyberattacks, disinformation, economic disruption and attacks on critical infrastructure rather than unfold as a conventional invasion alone.