Taiwan’s two major non-military exercises are to be unified into an urban resilience drill starting next year, President William Lai (賴清德) announced yesterday.
The Minan disaster prevention drill and the Wanan air defense exercise are to be combined into the 2025 Urban Resilience Drill to improve Taiwan’s civil defense and disaster prevention capabilities.
The announcement came after the Presidential Office held the second meeting of The Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee, which hosted its first tabletop military exercise yesterday.
Photo: Wu Che-yu, Taipei Times
The new drill next year is designed without relying on military support, Lai said, adding that this is in keeping with international standards.
The drill is to remain distinct from the military’s Han Kuang exercises, but it would complement it, focusing on mobilizing government and civilian resources to improve civil defense, he said.
The tabletop exercise showed that each government ministry and local agency must establish standard operating procedures (SOP), as well as backup plans and implement proactive communication practices to combat potential cognitive warfare, Lai said.
Civil society must also work to improve its resilience and mutual defense capabilities, rather than relying solely on the military and police, he added.
The government would also work on improving communication and cooperation between different agencies, as well as between the central and local government, Lai added.
In March, the committee is scheduled to meet for a third time for a small-scale exercise, followed by a fourth meeting in June to coincide with the Han Kuang exercises, Lai announced.
As of Monday, Taiwan has 45,660 emergency response personnel, estimated to increase to over 50,000 next year, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said.
To strengthen resilience, Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) would continue to promote projects decentralizing its network and develop local power grids, Liu added.
In the tabletop exercise, the Ministry of National Defense made clear to all participants that anything about Taiwan’s surrender is misinformation, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) said.
Units are more used to dealing with isolated incidents, rather than complex threats, Lin said, adding that moving forward agencies are to work on improving interdependence and interconnectivity.
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