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Taiwan not immune to acts of air terrorism

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks shocked Americans, who had gotten used to peace after over a decade of relative stability since the end of the Cold War. The attacks also frightened people all over the world. To clean up the mess, the US government is actively preparing for war to severely punish the terrorists, while at the same time stepping up its domestic aviation security.

The US has been able to move beyond the shock and take immediate action. If we look at Taiwan, however, there are still numerous blind spots in the nation's aviation security which need to be strengthened.

First, our psychological defense against terrorist acts is fragile. Since cross-strait relations are more stable than they have been in the past, politically-driven hijackings over the Taiwan Strait haven't occured in some time. Not only has Taiwan stopped regarding Chinese hijackers as "anti-communist patriots" -- and no longer rewards them for hijacking planes from China to Taiwan -- but it believes hijackings from Taiwan to China are extremely unlikely.

In addition, every airline is striving to reduce its running costs and investment in programs to deter hijackings significantly lower than it once was.

Stricter control of running costs is an inevitable result of free competition. But, as the old Chinese saying goes, we should "maintain an army for a thousand days even if only to use it for one hour" (養兵千日, 用在一時). If terrorism occurs in Taiwan, those airlines unwilling to invest in aviation security will go out of business if they come under attack.

Second, the nation's understanding of international terrorist acts is insufficient. The officials involved have always believed that the nation has only one enemy -- China -- and that the country will never again suffer hijackings or other acts of terror.

In fact, experts warned a few years ago that Osama bin Laden actually planned to hijack planes in an area stretching from Japan to Southeast Asia, including Taiwan. According to recent foreign reports, moreover, Taiwan is on bin Laden's list of "unfriendly" nations.

Psychologists have pointed out that politically or idealistically driven terrorists or hijackers may harbor what they call the "Phoenix Complex," a readiness to die during their missions. Such people embrace death, committing terrorist acts fully aware they will probably die as a result. They believe that if they sacrifice their own lives to forward their ideals and attract global attention, their spirits will live on, just like a phoenix -- the mythical bird that lived for 500 years before allowing itself to be consumed by fire, only to rise again from its own ashes.

For security agents, it is very important to learn about the "Phoenix Complex." Agents need to consider the possible disasters that the complex could bring when negotiating with terrorists.

Third, both the software and the hardware of the nation's anti-terrorist system are insufficient. Not only do we not understand the state of mind of terrorists, but the facilities for domestic air security checks, as well as equipment and agents for special operations against terrorism, need to be strengthened.

To sum up, it is hard to imagine that either the ruling or the opposition parties would be able to handle a situation similar to the Sept. 11 attacks if they were to occur in Taiwan. As the old Chinese saying goes, "Preparedness ensures success and unpreparedness spells failure" (凡事預則立, 不預則廢).

It is to be hoped that the painful US experience will serve as a lesson and lead to an improvement in Taiwan's air security.

Frank Huang is dean of student affairs at the Central Police University.

Translated by Eddy Chang
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