The annual Wanan air defense exercise is to be held in several locations across Taiwan from today to Thursday, with civilians required to shelter in place when alarms sound, the Ministry of National Defense said.
Air raid sirens are to sound at 1:30pm to signal the start of 30-minute drills today in northern Taiwan, tomorrow in central Taiwan, Wednesday in southern Taiwan and Thursday in eastern Taiwan and outlying counties, it said.
Northern Taiwan covers Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu county and city and Yilan County.
Photo: CNA
Central Taiwan comprises Taichung, Chiayi county and city, and Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou and Yunlin counties.
Southern Taiwan covers Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, with the eastern and outlying areas comprising Hualien, Taitung, Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties.
Vehicles must stop and pedestrians must find shelter in a shop or other covered area. MRT services are to operate normally, but disembarking passengers cannot leave MRT stations from 1:30pm to 2pm today, and need to stay either on platforms or in hall areas.
A stricter evacuation protocol is to be applied to selected boroughs, in which vehicles must not only park, but this year drivers and passengers must step out and find shelter, the ministry said.
The selected areas are Kuangchu Borough (廣居) in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), Fengle Borough (豐樂) in Taichung’s Nantun District (南屯), and Dongciao Borough (東橋) in Tainan’s Yongkang District (永康), it said.
However, the Taipei City government said yesterday that it is extending the central government’s Kuangchu protocol to the entire city amid tightened defense drills for the capital.
Those who contravene evacuation controls will be subject to a fine ranging from NT$30,000 to NT$150,000 (US$1,003-US $5,014) under the Civilian Defense Act (民防法), the ministry said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS