Louder and clearer: how Xiamen on the Taiwan Strait front line is heeding the call for civil defence
- Citizens in the coastal city learn to find their closest shelter and distinguish between different air strike alarms
- Exercise is part of a bigger push to transform the national defence system into a ‘war-fighting’ model
Authorities in the coastal city of Xiamen renewed their annual citywide air defence exercises this year, with more than 600,000 people involved in a drill amid heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
The drill is the first since an overhaul of national mobilisation efforts and the exercise appeared more prominent – and louder – than before.
“[I] was lying in bed and thought a Taiwan Strait war broke out,” a user wrote on the social media platform Weibo as the an air raid alarm filled the city on May 10.
Another user said publicity for this year’s air-raid warning test was greater than previous years, with banners and a “propaganda wall” placed in his neighbourhood.
The air strike alarm test has been held annually in Xiamen since 2001, but the exercise last week was the first since the reform of the country’s national defence mobilisation system, which is transforming mainland China to a “warfighting” model.
According to local news sources, the exercise involved civilians and professional civil air defence forces, including firefighters, state electricity enterprise representatives and medical professionals, carrying out “important target protection and rescue drills”.