Taiwan will conduct new drills in coming weeks to ensure the island has access to critical supplies in the event of a Chinese blockade, a risk demonstrated by Iran’s closure of a global energy chokepoint.

A senior Taiwanese official said the government will carry out its first-ever joint exercise between the Interior Ministry and other departments to escort ships carrying natural gas and oil during a naval blockade. He also warned a large-scale denial of access to the area would hinder the entire region.

“If the Taiwan Strait or the surrounding area of Taiwan will be blockaded, it is almost a 100% of the blockade of the regional energy supply,” Sawyer Mars, Taiwan’s deputy interior minister, said in an interview with Bloomberg News earlier this month. “It’s not only Taiwan’s problem, it’s the whole area’s problem.”

While China has made no threats to cut off supplies to Taiwan or other economies, the self-ruled democracy routinely carries out exercises to prepare for potential hostilities by the People’s Liberation Army.

“All scenarios and possible actions by the PLA will be incorporated into the drills to prepare for various response plans,” a spokesperson for the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense said Friday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has never disavowed the potential use of force to take it. Chinese President Xi Jinping restated his hope for eventual unification on Friday in a meeting with Kuomintang Chairperson Cheng Li-wun, the China-friendly leader of Taiwan’s largest opposition party.

Mars said the Interior Ministry is leading land transportation drills that will take place before July, focused on moving supplies within Taiwan, while the Navy and Coast Guard are responsible for maritime escort operations for ships sailing in waters near Taiwan.

Unlike in the Strait of Hormuz controlled by Iran, ships can bypass the Taiwan Strait by sailing around the eastern side of Taiwan. But rerouting shipments farther out into the Pacific Ocean will likely drive up costs and create delays.

“There are three corridors we hope to maintain to counter a blockade from China,” Mars said, adding that humanitarian operations in the event of a large-scale disaster are also a major focus. Those corridors will seek to maintain Taiwan’s access to routes toward the Philippines, Japan and the U.S.

Mars said he expects Japan and other countries to assist in future escort missions. He pointed to freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait as evidence that an informal international consensus already exists to keep the waterway open.

“There are no agreements, but there’s a consensus between countries,” he said, expressing confidence that Taiwan could maintain shipping corridors even if a blockade began tomorrow.

Taiwan’s military is drawing lessons from active conflicts. On Saturday, the armed forces began annual tabletop war games that reference events including the Iran crisis and the U.S. seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, the Defense Ministry said at a briefing.

Separately, a Coast Guard spokesperson said last week it would join a drill led by the Maritime and Port Bureau in late September on Taiwan’s east coast, simulating a wartime blockade.

The expanded exercises come after China conducted some of its largest military drills around Taiwan to date.

In late December, the People’s Liberation Army carried out “Justice Mission 2025,” deploying more than 89 aircraft and at least 14 warships and 14 Coast Guard vessels to rehearse encircling the island. The operation covered a wider area than any drill since the 2022 exercise triggered by then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei.

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(With assistance from Weilun Soon.)

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