A four-day drill conducted last month by the National Security Council (NSC) to test the government’s ability to respond to national security emergencies exposed various problems, and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has called for improvements, a senior government official said yesterday.
The drill, which took place from Sept. 8 to 11, caught many government agencies off guard, as they had “no idea what resources were available and where to find them,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Tsai has asked for more training and improved coordination between government agencies and military units, the official added.
Photo courtesy of Military News Agency
More than 20 government agencies took part in the drill, they said.
The exercise, aimed at enhancing cross-departmental and inter-ministerial cooperation on emergency responses, requires government agencies to respond to nearly 100 national security threats to test if they can handle emergencies.
It is carried out by three groups: the drill group, consisting of all ministries under the Executive Yuan; the attack group, which simulates the threats; and the observer group, which evaluates the performance of the other groups, the official said.
The attack and observer groups each have about a dozen members and are respectively headed by former NSC secretary-general Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) and former NSC secretary-general Chen Chung-hsin (陳忠信), the official said, adding that about 500 people took part in the drill, including former military leaders and academics.
This drill found recurring problems at government agencies, as most seemed completely unprepared for emergencies, the official said.
“The Ministry of National Defense received the highest score for its emergency responses, as it is the most experienced among all ministries in the field,” the official said, citing the observer group’s evaluation.
“On the other hand, a ministry which considers itself to be elite was criticized for rarely consulting with other ministries,” the official added.
The drill differs from the annual Han Kuang military exercise, as it focuses on political agencies’ responses to emergencies, while Han Kuang focuses on military responses, the official said.
Drills in the past two years have shown that cross-departmental and inter-ministerial cooperation clearly need improvement, especially in coordinating the military, the coast guard, police and firefighters, the official said, adding that the agencies lack training in collaboration as well as clear guidelines for emergencies.
To improve the agencies’ performance, the government could increase the drill’s frequency next year, the official said.
This year’s drill was the 11th since it was launched in 2005 under then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
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