Taiwan is stepping up its all-of-society defense readiness, framing military and civilian preparation as the way to prevent a war with China rather than start one — a steady-as-she-goes signal for the region, but a reminder that Taiwan sees the threat as real.

• Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim closed a two-day international forum in Taipei on "whole-of-society resilience," telling 500 foreign and local experts that Taiwan wants peace but "is not naive" and knows peace has to be prepared for.
• Taiwan's push to strengthen its military is about deterrence: making conflict costly enough that it never happens.
• Resilience means protecting power, water and other key infrastructure, hardening cyber defenses, keeping supply chains running, and keeping the public calm and informed under pressure.
• A major civil-military drill this year mobilized 20,000 reservists and thousands of civilians, and deliberately slowed 5G networks for 30 minutes across a region of 17 million people to see how society copes when phones and internet go down.
• The drill went well: local groups and community organizations spontaneously switched to radios and mesh networks to stay connected.
• Taiwan says its threats — cyberattacks, supply chain disruption, maritime security — spill across borders and affect the whole Indo-Pacific, which is why it is leaning on international partners to share lessons and build capacity.

Outlook: Expect Taiwan to keep expanding civilian-involved defense drills and deepening security ties with foreign partners as pressure from China continues.