Taiwan is unprepared for a non-conventional attack by China involving nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, the army said yesterday.
"China has been emphasizing the importance of `unrestricted warfare' in the future battlefield," said Major General Huang Hsi (
"The use of nuclear and biochemical weapons is among the methods of conducting unrestricted warfare," he said.
"In response to this type of threat, the army will seek to enhance its capabilities against non-conventional warfare such as unrestricted warfare," Huang said.
Huang made the remarks yesterday at a regular press conference of the Ministry of National Defense as he briefed the press on the army's development of countermeasures against nuclear and biochemical attacks.
Huang singled out the possibility of such attacks by China, a scenario that most military leaders do not want to discuss in public.
Given that the majority of military leaders are ethnic mainlanders, they are usually unwilling to admit the possibility that people of the same blood on the other side of the Taiwan Strait might use such weapons against them.
Huang called attention to the "dirty bomb," a cheap and easy-to-make weapon that China might use before launching wide-ranging non-conventional attacks.
The "dirty bomb" is conventional explosives mixed with radioactive material. There is no nuclear fission or fusion, but the radioactive material is dispersed by the conventional explosives, contaminating a wide area and causing panic.
Huang said the US military had conducted an exercise in May to simulate the impact of a "dirty bomb." Taiwan's military has made a computer simulation of a similar scenario, he said.
"The results of the US exercise show that although no immediate casualties will occur in the wake of a dirty bomb explosion, it can still produce some radioactive fallout that will affect the health of people in the explosion area and pollute the whole environment," Huang said.
"The power of a dirty bomb depends on the amount of radioactive material it contains. A small dirty bomb, for instance, can affect several wards of residents in Taipei," he said. Such a bomb might contain 1kg of radioactive material.
The number of victims could be tens of thousands if the bomb drops into a densely-populated region such as Taipei's Wanhua district around the Presidential Office.
"The US exercise tells us that 160 shelters and 50 medical centers need to be set up to cope with a dirty bomb attack," Huang said.
National Defense Medical College executive dean Colonel Liu Hwang-wun (劉鴻文), who also attended the press conference, said the military currently has only limited ability in handling such attacks.
"We can treat affected people and decontaminate polluted areas but only in a limited way," Liu said.
"As yet, the government has not assigned any department to handle the possibility of dirty-bomb attacks. The military has no guiding principles to follow except those for countermeasures against nuclear and biochemical attacks," he said.
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
SAFETY FIRST: Double the number of police were deployed at the Taipei Marathon, while other cities released plans to bolster public event safety Authorities across Taiwan have stepped up security measures ahead of Christmas and New Year events, following a knife and smoke bomb attack in Taipei on Friday that left four people dead and 11 injured. In a bid to prevent potential copycat incidents, police deployments have been expanded for large gatherings, transport hubs, and other crowded public spaces, according to official statements from police and city authorities. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city has “comprehensively raised security readiness” in crowded areas, increased police deployments with armed officers, and intensified patrols during weekends and nighttime hours. For large-scale events, security checkpoints and explosives
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
RSS