
Convenience stores to become wartime community hubs: The Guardian
Convenience stores are a part of Taiwanese people’s daily lives, and now they may be used as supply centers should Taiwan get embroiled in a war. British daily The Guardian has published a report that the Taiwan government is considering turning your local 7-11 into a wartime community hub, as part of a plan to protect its population if China attacks. Legislator Wang Ting-yu says it hasn’t been decided whether convenience stores would be incorporated into a wartime mechanism for material delivery, but maximizing the resilience of the whole society is the aim of the government.
Open 24-7, convenience stores provide all kinds of food, daily necessities, communications services and other functions to meet customers’ needs. Now as the cross-strait situation gets more and more tense, The Guardian has reported that Taiwan’s convenience stores may be used to play an even more important role.
Titled, “Don’t panic, but don’t relax: Taiwan’s plan ‘to use 7-Eleven chains’ as wartime hubs,” the piece opens with a depiction of wartime Taiwan.
“No one knows for sure what a Chinese attack on Taiwan will look like, but there are some assumptions made by government planners,” the article says. It continues by saying that “Outside assistance would almost certainly be cut off by a blockade. Domestic train lines might be taken out, and airspaces closed to non-military flights. The internet and maybe phone signal would probably be cut off.”
While it doesn’t mention any names, the report cites a high-level government committee that is investigating the feasibility of turning the island’s more than 13,000 convenience stores into wartime community hubs, where citizens could pick up rations and medical supplies, delivered by the chains’ own logistical transport systems.
Wang Ting-yu
Lawmaker (DPP)
Given the dense network they’re in, the convenience stores throughout Taiwan are community centers for consumption, information acquisition, and interpersonal relationships. When there’s a natural disaster or enemy attack, such a social network can be very effective, of course.
In mid-April, the 2025 Urban Resilience Exercises will be held in 11 cities and counties with three main focuses: physical onsite exercises, cross-agency coordination, and the sustainability of daily life.
Wang Ting-yu
Lawmaker (DPP)
It hasn’t been decided whether convenience stores will be incorporated into a wartime mechanism for material delivery and information dissemination, but the "resilience of society as a whole" requires that everyone takes responsibility to contribute to the security of their loved ones and their country.
Wang Ting-yu stressed that in the face of natural disasters and military threats, the people of Taiwan must be prepared during peacetime so as to maximize the resilience of the whole of society.
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2025-04-13