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'Missile Alert': Taiwan Holds Air-raid Exercise amid China Tension

File Photo: In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, second from right, watches as a military jet taxis along a highway in Jiadong, Taiwan, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021.(Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
File Photo: In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, second from right, watches as a military jet taxis along a highway in Jiadong, Taiwan, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021.(Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
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'Missile Alert': Taiwan Holds Air-raid Exercise amid China Tension

File Photo: In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, second from right, watches as a military jet taxis along a highway in Jiadong, Taiwan, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021.(Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
File Photo: In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, second from right, watches as a military jet taxis along a highway in Jiadong, Taiwan, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021.(Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)

Roads emptied and people were ordered to stay indoors in parts of Taiwan, including its capital Taipei, on Monday for an air-raid exercise as the island steps up preparations in the event of a Chinese attack.

Sirens sounded at 1:30 p.m. (0530 GMT) for the mandatory street evacuation drills, which effectively shut towns and cities across northern Taiwan for 30 minutes.

A "missile alert", asking people to evacuate to safety immediately, was sent via text message, Reuters said.

"It is necessary to make preparations in the event of a war," Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je said in a speech after overseeing drills for the exercise named Wan An, which means everlasting peace.

China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its territory and has never ruled out taking the island by force. Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty claim and vows to defend itself.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has renewed debate in Taiwan about how best to react in the event of an attack amid stepped-up Chinese military maneuvers around the island.

"Chinese military planes have frequently harassed Taiwan in recent years and there's even the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in February, these incidents remind us that we need to be vigilant in peace time," Ko said.

In Taipei, police directed vehicles to move to the side of the road and passersby were told to seek shelter. Shops and restaurants pulled down their shutters and turned off lights to avoid becoming a target in the event of a night-time attack.

Firefighters practiced putting out a fire triggered by a missile attack. Sirens sounded 30 minutes later to give the all-clear.

Concern about China's intentions towards Taiwan has added to tension with the United States, which, while it does not recognize the island as a separate country, is bound by US law to provide it with the means to defend itself.

China has issued stark private warnings to the Biden administration that suggested the possibility of a military response to a possible trip to Taiwan in August by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.

Periodic air-raid drills are required by law in Taiwan. The island has raised its alert level since the Russian invasion of Ukraine even though it has reported no unusual Chinese military activity.

Other parts of Taiwan will carry out street evacuation drills this week. The exercise had been canceled for the past two years because of COVID-19.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has made boosting defense capacity her top priority and said only its people can decide their future.

"When everyone receives the text message, do not panic," Tsai said in a reminder to the public on Facebook early on Monday. "Citizens, please evacuate according to the guidance."

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France Holds Day of Mourning for Mayotte Islands Devastated by Cyclone

French President Emmanuel Macron (C-R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (C-L) stand for a minute of silence at the Elysee Palace during a day of national mourning for the lives lost after a cyclone hit the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, in Paris, France, 23 December 2024. (EPA)
French President Emmanuel Macron (C-R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (C-L) stand for a minute of silence at the Elysee Palace during a day of national mourning for the lives lost after a cyclone hit the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, in Paris, France, 23 December 2024. (EPA)
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France Holds Day of Mourning for Mayotte Islands Devastated by Cyclone

French President Emmanuel Macron (C-R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (C-L) stand for a minute of silence at the Elysee Palace during a day of national mourning for the lives lost after a cyclone hit the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, in Paris, France, 23 December 2024. (EPA)
French President Emmanuel Macron (C-R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (C-L) stand for a minute of silence at the Elysee Palace during a day of national mourning for the lives lost after a cyclone hit the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, in Paris, France, 23 December 2024. (EPA)

France held a national day of mourning for Mayotte, its Indian Ocean territory devastated by a violent cyclone on Dec. 14, beginning in the morning on Monday with a minute of silence for the scores of residents left dead by the storm.

Cyclone Chido was the worst storm to hit Mayotte's two main islands in 90 years, and authorities have said that perhaps thousands of people may have been killed in its wake, though the government's death toll stands at 35.

To commemorate Mayotte's losses, French flags were lowered to half-mast. Separately, flags were flown at half-mast in Brussels and Strasbourg because of Mayotte, as well as following attacks last week on a German Christmas market and in a Croatian school.

"It is a communion in mourning," Prime Minister Francois Bayrou told reporters. He said the day showed solidarity for those in Mayotte, and that France was "present to reconstruct Mayotte and make sure the people of Mayotte feel surrounded by the entire country."

Following the storm, officials say corpses may have been buried quickly per religious custom, before they could be counted, and that many of the people killed may have been undocumented immigrants.

Mozambique has said 94 people died in the disaster, while 13 were killed in neighboring Malawi.

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The slow pace of aid and delays in the arrival of clean water have angered residents of Mayotte, France's poorest overseas territory located between Madagascar and Mozambique about 8,000 km (4971 miles) from the mainland, with some heckling President Emmanuel Macron during his visit last week.

For Mohamed Abdou, a doctor in Pamandzi, the day of French mourning was a political stunt and did not do enough to account for historic neglect leading up to this point.

"Whether in terms of hospitals, the lack of water infrastructure, electricity, and so on ... at this point, we need to say 'mea culpa' and acknowledge mistakes were made," he told Reuters, speaking from his town in the south of Mayotte's smaller island.

Francois-Noel Buffet, France's acting minister of overseas territories, told France 2 that water - a flashpoint even before the disaster - had made it to the island, saying: "We are not missing water. We have water, notably bottled water. We have a problem with distribution."

Buffet said he expected a special law on the reconstruction of Mayotte to be introduced in early January.

In Paris, Bayrou, France's fourth prime minister this year, is expected to unveil his cabinet Monday evening, though the timing was uncertain. The French presidency said the announcement would not take place before 6:00 p.m. (1700 GMT), to take into account the day of mourning.

Estelle Youssouffa, a lawmaker for Mayotte, criticized the government in an interview with Radio France Internationale for possibly making the announcement on the day of mourning, accusing Bayrou, who had not yet visited the islands, of "humiliating us a second time."