‘Don’t panic, but don’t relax’: Taiwan’s plan ‘to use 7-Eleven chains’ as wartime hubs

A 7-Eleven worker puts up a QR code for mandatory customer check during the pandemic. In the event of a Chinese blockade, residents could be sent to one of the island’s 13,000 convenience stores to pick up rations and medical supplies. Photograph: Helen Davidson/The Guardian

If war comes to Taiwan, the local citizens might be sent to their nearest 7-Eleven.

No one knows for sure what a Chinese attack on Taiwan will look like, but there are some assumptions made by government planners. They expect Taiwan’s military and maybe police will be sent to frontlines, leaving civilian first responders in charge of care and control.