The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday that Taiwan's armed forces will be on the lookout for Y2K-related problems and are fully prepared for the "millennium bug" -- a glitch that could wreak havoc on unprepared computer systems on Jan. 1.
"On Dec. 31, the eve of the 21st century, Deputy Chief of the General Staff General Miao Yung-ching (苗永慶) will preside over a Y2K emergency command center, which the military has set up at its maximum-security Hengshan [衡山] strategic command," said the MND's military spokesman, Major General Kung Fan-ding (孔繁定).
"The military will deploy an extra 2,000 personnel to all Y2K emergency stations across the country on that day, with another 16,000 standing by," Kung said.
"With such extensive preparations, the combat capability of the armed forces should not be affected by any possible computer problems [caused by the date rollover]," he added.
Kung made the statements during a ministry press conference, which was also attended by officials in charge of preparations for the Y2K problem.
Colonel Wu Tai-pang (
"We have made a thorough check of all the information systems of the military, including combat and non-combat units, three times over. We have also trained over 1,000 people to handle possible situations that might be triggered by the computer bug," Wu said.
"We initiated on Sept. 3 a comprehensive test of all the information systems in the services. To ensure greater safety, we launched a similar test on all the combat systems. No problems were found during these tests," he said.
"Although all the systems have passed the tests, we still have to take precautions against potential abnormalities. On the night of Dec. 31, most troops around the country will stay on alert ... to respond to any potential emergency situations," he said.
Wu said combat units have made preparations on the basis of all sorts of scenarios, including a possible misinterpretation of the military movements of China by computer-based combat systems.
An official with the Army General Headquarters, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the Y2K date rollover is not a serious problem for the military, since it has yet to become so dependent on computers.
The army's preparations will include the replacement of old computer systems with new ones and the installation of a backup system for the main one.
Shih Hsiao-wei (施孝偉), an editor of Defense International magazine, said Taiwan's military infrastructure has a low level of computerization compared to the US.
"But compared with our arch-rival China, Taiwan has a much more computerized military," Shih said.
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