Taiwan briefly slows its mobile internet to text-only speed as part of defense drill

12 hours ago 6

For 30 minutes, the net successful parts of Taiwan crawled

ByJOHNSON LAI Associated Press and HUIZHONG WU Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- For 30 minutes, the net successful parts of Taiwan crawled.

The slowdown Thursday for radical successful the capital, Taipei, and six different cities and localities was portion of the past signifier of the island's yearly Han Kuang exercises, subject drills that began past week and purpose to exemplary a effect to a imaginable Chinese subject invasion.

Telecommunication operators slowed mobile web postulation to 256 Kbps, making it hard to speech thing different than texts. Usually, residents tin entree 5G successful large cities.

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te apologized to the nationalist for the inconvenience, “We inquire for your knowing and support, arsenic this is simply a indispensable drill," helium said.

Taiwan has stepped up the strength of the Han Kuang drills, incorporating reservists and much civilians into the exercises with a absorption connected real-world scenarios. Previously, municipality resilience drills successful Taipei went mostly unnoticed arsenic they were not disruptive. For example, aerial raid drills successful the metro presumption didn’t stem the travel of passengers.

This year, integrating civilians and coordinating with section governments was a cardinal portion of the exercises, according to the Taipei Times.

At a Taipei metro presumption Thursday afternoon, passengers waited to beryllium released aft the station's gates were unopen for the simulation arsenic portion of aerial raid drills.

Lai besides visited a infirmary arsenic it simulated however to relocate its captious operations to underground facilities arsenic portion of the drills.

Taiwan is ramping up its defence exercises and purchases successful effect to heightened tensions with China, which claims the land arsenic its own. China sends subject planes, arsenic good arsenic Coast Guard ships and different vessels towards Taiwan connected a regular ground and carries retired large-scale subject exercises from clip to time.

Between Wednesday to Thursday morning, 18 Chinese warplanes and 11 navy ships operated astir Taiwan, the island's Defense Ministry said.