The Presidential Office yesterday denied local media reports that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) would today fly by helicopter to the Hengshan command post to take part in a counterterrorism drill.
"President Chen has no plans to take a helicopter to Hengshan command post and take part in the counterterrorism drill, as some TV news networks have reported," a press release issued by the Presidential Office's Department of Public Affairs said yesterday.
The statement was a rebuttal to a TV news report, which said that the president would lead the premier and the heads of all the ministries to the Hengshan command post today to take part in a three-day counterterrorism drill. The president would fly to the command post via chopper from the Presidential Office, the report said.
Meanwhile, officials from a counterterrorism office under the Executive Yuan said yesterday that the drill would consist of a computer simulation of an attack on Taiwan by terrorists.
The three-day drill, which starts today, will be held at Hengshan command post. A tightly guarded command center in Dazhi on the outskirts of Taipei, the Hengshan command post is one of the most secret and important military facilities in Taiwan.
Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) will lead Cabinet members to take part in the drill.
Speaking at a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan yesterday, Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) said that the counterterrorism drill will be conducted by the Executive Yuan with Premier Hsieh as the convener in the first half of the year, while the annual "Han Kuang" (漢光) military exercises will be held later this year. The Han Kuang exercises will include an "anti-decapitation strike" drill.
Lee made the remarks when responding to an inquiry from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Pan Wei-kang (
Asked whether the Han Kuang live-fire maneuvers will raise cross-strait tensions, Hsieh, speaking on the same occasion, said the annual drills are necessary and that everyone should take them in stride.
Counterterrorism measures need to be integrated into all divisions of the Executive Yuan, Hsieh said.
"The drill is therefore necessary to find out how each division would react and how to integrate their actions in the case of a terrorist attack," the premier said.
Decapitation strategies are designed to short-circuit command and control systems, wipe out national nerve centers and leave an opponent immobilized. Military observers say China is likely to use such a strategy to invade Taiwan by seizing the country's centers of power, the capital and top leaders.
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