A system to discern friend from foe, and instant access to accurate information are among the highlights of the latest version of the All-Out Defense Response Handbook, which the Ministry of National Defense released yesterday.
The ministry presented the handbook at a news conference in Taipei after it spent more than a year revising a version it published in April last year.
The handbook has been expanded from 28 to 48 pages, the ministry said.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency Director Shen Wei-chih (沈威志) said that the handbook has two main sections: “Peacetime Preparedness” and “Wartime Response.”
“Peacetime Preparedness” covers items that should be prepared for an emergency evacuation, distinguishing air-raid alerts, knowledge of important facilities and accessing accurate information.
“Wartime Response” covers possible combat situations, including telling friend from foe; conducting an emergency evacuation; handling of water, power or food shortages and other disruptions of daily necessities; addressing communications disruptions; responding to medical emergencies; managing battlefield crises caused by fire, explosives, chemical weapons or missiles; and contacting emergency hotlines.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The handbook shows uniforms and insignia worn by service personnel in Taiwan’s army, navy, air force and Marine Corps, as well as those worn by members of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
“After Russia invaded Ukraine, many have suggested that the handbook should prepare the public for severe wartime situations and offer them adequate information to respond to changes,” Shen said. “As such, we consulted similar books published in other countries, and suggestions proposed by lawmakers and experts to compile the handbook.”
The handbook has information about air-raid shelters, hospitals with emergency rooms and rationing of daily necessities, and allows people to check locations on an app, Shen said.
During wartime, it is important that people do not believe rumors about defeat or surrender by the government, he said.
Nearly 94 percent of the nation’s air defense shelters have been inspected since Aug. 8 last year, the National Police Agency’s Civil Defense and Command Control Center deputy director Lin Kuo-hua (林國華) told the news conference.
Inspections of the remaining shelters should be completed during the first half of next month, Lin said.
Of the 89,405 air defense shelters across Taiwan, 83,691 have been inspected, he said.
“We are in the process of upgrading signs for air defense shelters across the country,” he said.
“Some local governments have been asked to laminate signs to prevent water damage,” he said. “Two regions have printed signs on acrylic panels. Should funding allow, cities and counties are encouraged to use LED panels for the signs.”
As of Wednesday last week, 83.4 percent of the signs had been upgraded, he added.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS