Taiwan was unaffected by the Y2K computer bug Friday night which millions around the world feared would cripple essential computer systems and services, the Cabinet's Y2K emergency control center announced early yesterday morning.
"I told my wife to prepare some cash, batteries and fresh water for contingency purposes ... Results showed, however, that this was unnecessary," Premier Vincent Siew (
"I'm pleased to announce Taiwan has passed the Y2K test and is qualified to march into the 21st century," he said.
Independent US think-tank International Data Corporation predicted this week that Taiwan, along with Russia, China and Vietnam would suffer the heaviest losses in the world from the bug, in which some computer systems mistake the year 2000 for 1900.
Power, water, the military, hospitals and major financial institutions all reported no effects of the millennium computer bug, the Cabinet's Y2K contingency center announced at 1am yesterday. The center had mandated Taiwan's essential services under five government ministries to have passed its Y2K testing by June 1999.
Military, police and firefighting staff were on alert at the center beginning at 2pm Thursday in the event of a national emergency. The special crisis center will remain on alert until Tuesday when the stock market and banks resume operations.
The Taiwan Stock Exchange said yesterday it was Y2K bug free and a mock trading session in stocks and futures proved all systems functioned smoothly.
Banks also reported they had no problem, with all 13,500 automatic teller machines working normally. ATMs reopened for service at 8am yesterday and functioned normally. ATM services were suspended from 8pm on Friday.
All Taiwan domestic and two international airports were also Y2K safe, and to ensure double safety, CAA had arranged to have 122 domestic flights and 99 international flights cancelled between 1300 GMT Dec. 31 and 0400 GMT Jan. 1.
The first domestic flight of the new millennium took off from Kaohsiung International Airport for Taipei at 6am yesterday morning. Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正) flew from Taipei to Kaohsiung as midnight struck at GMT yesterday morning to boost confidence in flight safety, although local Chinese-language newspapers reported greatly reduced traffic on domestic flights yesterday. Civil aviation worldwide operates on GMT.
Computers wired to high-tech weapons did not report any problems, Minister of National Defense Tang Fei (
On Friday, the military announced it would lower alertness to avoid possible misfiring of weapons as a result of a Y2K glitch, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported. China, Japan and the US had taken similar measures to prevent possible Y2K-related military incidents, CNA quoted Chief of General Staff Tang Yao-ming (
Telecommunications authorities said there had been no problems related to the millennium bug, but lines were busy for mobile phones users after midnight, when the number of calls doubled, according to CNA.
When asked whether Y2K preparations had been excessive, National Taiwan University information technology professor Lin Yi-peng (
"Everyone was pretty nervous [before Y2K] ... and I think it was good that testing went on for hospitals, flight safety and things like that," said Lin, who is also director of NTU's information technology center. The center backed up its files in preparation for Y2K problems.
"I don't think it was a waste of time. It didn't really take very much effort," he said.
Other members of the public had perhaps taken fewer precautions than Lin, however.
"Today's pretty much like any other day," said shopkeeper Yang Tzu-hsuan (
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