Front line Taiwanese island drills for a Chinese attack

People spray water while taking part in the annual Minan civilian defense drill, which this year focuses on the response from various agencies and volunteer groups if under attack by China, at a power plant in Nangan island, which is part of the Matsu archipelago in Taiwan  April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Emergency workers on a Taiwan-controlled island next to China's coast practiced responding to a simulated Chinese attack on Thursday, a little more than a week after Beijing staged war games around the sensitive Taiwan Strait.

The Matsu Islands, close to China's Fuzhou city, have been controlled by the government in Taipei since defeated Republic of China forces fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists.