An app giving the location of the nearest air raid shelter has become the most downloaded in Taiwan as tensions continue to escalate with mainland China.
The police-run app provides users in Taipei with an interactive map featuring 5,771 air raid shelters with the ability to accommodate 12.87 million people — more than five times the city’s population, according to city spokesman Cheng Ta-chuan.
The app’s newfound popularity comes as a result of fears of China taking military action following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to the island.
An air raid bunker app is the most downloaded in Taiwan, showing the closest air raid shelter following China’s live military drills around the island ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/0zVrLuEI9v
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) August 12, 2022
“These shelters are often in commercial buildings, residential buildings, underground car parks, and even shopping malls,” Divya Gopalan, the international editor for TaiwanPlus, said in a video demonstrating the app.
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Air raid shelters cover the entire screen in Gopalan’s demonstration, showing dozens of shelters within walking distance. The shelters have apparently been built over the course of decades as tensions with China have gradually grown.
The capital holds annual air raid drills, signaled by blaring air raid sirens, with the most recent taking place last month, according to NBC News. Soldiers and police are mobilized to help direct residents to the nearest shelter. Most of the shelters, 4,354, are within privately owned buildings, although in the event of war, they would be opened up with a directive from the Ministry of National Defense, Cheng told Focus Taiwan.
Air raid shelters aren’t limited to the capital, with a public government database run by Taiwan’s National Police Agency’s Civil Defense Office categorizing shelters all across the island.
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China launched live-fire military drills completely surrounding the self-governing island, which Beijing considers part of China, following Pelosi’s visit. Ballistic missiles flew over Taipei during the exercises, although these apparently didn’t activate the city’s air raid sirens. China announced an end to the drills on Wednesday, though tensions remain high.
