By Yimou Lee

TAIPEI, March 5 (Reuters) - Taiwan is learning from

companies in Ukraine which continue to operate during the

country's fight against Russia, a senior Taiwan official told

Reuters on Wednesday, as the island speeds up contingency

planning amid heightened Chinese threats.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own

territory, despite the objection of the government in Taipei,

and has ramped up its military pressure against the island in

recent years, including holding several rounds of major war

games.

"We hope to learn from Ukraine's first-hand experiences -

how private companies helped build the resilience of its

government and society during wartime," said a senior Taiwan

security official, who requested anonymity due to the

sensitivity of the matter.

The official pointed to companies in Ukraine including Uber ( UBER )

and Microsoft ( MSFT ) which continued to provide

critical services.

Among the ideas Taiwan is taking inspirations from

Ukraine for include how to incorporate supermarkets into the

government's supply distribution network and utilising taxi

services for medical emergencies such as blood donations when

the health system is overwhelmed.

The official said the government was working to connect

companies in Taiwan with their counterparts in Ukraine in order

to help Taiwan firms quickly boost their contingency planning.

"We have the will to fight, and now we must also look closely

into our will to prepare," the official said. Taiwan is

revamping its air-raid alert and shelter systems, taking into

account lessons by northern European countries and Baltic

states, the official added.

A closed-door workshop on preparations including stockpiling

and civil defence training was held in Taipei this week, which

was attended by Taiwan security officials and senior diplomats

from countries including the U.S., Japan and Australia.

Andy Hunder, who heads the American Chamber of Commerce in

Ukraine and is a speaker at the workshop, told reporters the

Taiwan government must establish backup online systems, pointing

to Russian cyber attacks aimed at paralysing Ukraine

infrastructure before the first missile attacks.

"What we have seen is that during World War Two, the safest

place for critical infrastructure is down in the tunnels. Today,

the safest infrastructure is in the clouds," Hunder said, adding

payment services such as Mastercard ( MA ) and Visa continued to

operate and ensured financial stability.

"Technology, banking, food, delivery, retail - how do you

keep the economy running?" he said when asked how the Taiwan

government should prepare itself.

(Reporting by Yimou Lee in Taipei; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)