Thu, Mar 06, 2025 page3

• Taiwan News Quick Take

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  DEFENSE

  Tainan drills planned

  The government plans to hold a small-scale exercise in Tainan on March 27 to assess civil defense and disaster preparedness, a national security official said on Tuesday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the planned exercise would be aimed at examining civilians’ ability to find air raid shelters and other cover in emergencies. The exercise would also involve familiarizing people with civil defense policies, and helping the public prepare emergency kits and other items, the official said. The official said the exercise is aimed at equipping people with the ability to respond to high-intensity conflicts, natural disasters and other scenarios. It would build on last year’s unscripted tabletop exercises at the Presidential Office. The efforts were launched under the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee, an advisory group established by the Presidential Office. The official said that following the drill, the government would proceed with Urban Resilience Exercises from April to July, which combine the Wan An air raid drills and Min An disaster response drills.

  ENVIRONMENT

  OAC advises on strandings

  The Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) on Monday released a report on whale, dolphin and sea turtle strandings, urging people not to push beached animals back into the water and instead report them to the authorities to increase their chances of survival. “Cetaceans and sea turtles are lung-breathing animals,” said the report published by the OAC’s Marine Animal Rescue Network and Ocean Conservation Administration (OCA). “If they are pushed back into the sea without being evaluated, they might be unable to float to breathe due to physical exhaustion, or they might lose balance and inhale seawater into their respiratory tract, causing harm similar to drowning in humans,” the report said. There were 159 whale and dolphin strandings reported last year, with 135 of those animals found dead and 24 alive, the OAC said. In addition, 237 dead and 88 living sea turtles were found washed up on Taiwan’s beaches last year. The OCA urged the public to contact the coast guard by calling 118 or local marine conservation authorities, if they come across stranded or endangered marine wildlife.

  TRANSPORT

  Motorbike poll reopened

  The Freeway Bureau on Tuesday said that it has relaunched an opinion poll this month on whether heavy motorcycles should be allowed on national freeways, adding that the results of the survey would be released in the second half of this year. Previous surveys showed that 60 percent of respondents were against the proposal. An amendment to the Road Traffic Management Punishment Regulations was passed by the legislature on Nov. 23, 2011, allowing motorcycles with engine displacement of 550cc or more to travel on freeway sections during times specified by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. However, the legislature also passed a resolution requiring the ministry to plan the freeway sections and times that could be opened based on the principles of safety and effective risk control, as the public still has concerns about opening up freeways for heavy motorcycles. So far, no freeway section is open to 500cc or larger motorcycles. The bureau also launched a 12-month survey of rider behavior from November last year. The bureau would consider the feasibility of allowing heavy motorcycles on freeways based on the results of the opinion poll and the survey.
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