Internet slowdown and drones in the Strait: Taiwan preps for potential China conflict

Taiwan throttled its own internet during annual defense exercises this week, readying its population for a possible future attack by China.The half-hour drill on Monday in the central city of Taichung – to be repeated Thursday in northern Taiwan and in Taipei – blocked millions of people from using mobile video streaming and other high-data phone functions, while the government tested backup communication systems. Air raid sirens sounded as people took shelter in underground parking lots, shops, and basements.The unprecedented test marks a new initiative in Taiwan’s efforts to leapfrog ahead in its defensive tactics against China, a much stronger, better-resourced potential adversary. Why We Wrote This Taiwan is finding new ways to ready itself for asymmetric conflict with China. Its 2026 defense drills include disabling the internet to test civil resilience and practicing drone warfare strategies inspired by Ukraine. Beijing claims the self-governing island of Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary. Taiwan’s government asserts the island’s de facto sovereignty, and the Taiwanese public overwhelmingly prefers to maintain the status quo of autonomy from China. As China increases pressure on Taiwan, the government is expanding its annual civilian and military defense drills, integrating the exercises for the first time this year. This week’s mobile network slowdown is part of a “whole of society” defense effort that aims to prepare everyone – from civilians and local businesses to government and military officials – for a potential conflict. “Communications are an important lifeline of national resilience,” Premier Cho Jung-tai said last month, in preparation for the exercise. The goal is to test “extreme scenarios” and “verify the government’s response capability” when communications are limited, he said. Taiwanese tanks are deployed near the Danjiang Bridge during annual military exercises, in New Taipei City, Taiwan, Aug. 6, 2026. On the military front, Taiwan is focused on advancing its drone capabilities. This year’s war games – which run through Aug. 14 and are the largest ever held on the island – involve drone reconnaissance drills that will help Taiwan track and eliminate advancing Chinese forces in the Taiwan Strait.The exercise underscores how Taiwan’s leadership is drawing lessons from other war zones. “Looking at the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas conflict, and even the current U.S.-Iran war, drones are the most important [weapons] on the battlefield,” said Taiwan President Lai Ching-te during a recent visit to the country’s drone research institute in Taichung. They are “the representative weapon of asymmetric combat power.”Taiwan’s army commanders say that Ukraine in particular demonstrates how decisive drone warfare can be – assuming their operators are properly trained. Just as soldiers must learn to fire a pistol accurately, drone operators must have “proficiency and precision” to be effective, said Gen. Lu Kun-hsiu, while overseeing training this past June.