A half-hour air-raid drill yesterday designed to test the nation's air-defense system in case of a Chinese military attack failed to avert another, foreseeable, crisis: A major PR disaster.
The drill took place on the second day of Computex Taipei 2002 -- serving to remind international electronics buyers that the China threat is but one of Taiwan's many liabilities.
There are earthquakes that upset the production of semiconductors. Water and electricity shortages that threaten to shut down the nation's high-tech manufacturers. And an estimated 300 missiles pointed at Taiwan, with countless more Chinese jet fighters at the ready.
"Of all the days to pick I don't think it should have happened during Computex," said Lloyd Roberts, senior marketing specialist at Taiwan's Ulead Systems (
The two-stage "Wanan 25 Exercise," held between 1:30pm and 2pm yesterday, caused confusion and anger among some of the estimated 3,900 foreign buyers from 98 countries at Computex.
Attendees were confined to the exhibition hall for the duration of the drill.
"Outrageous" was the way Ian McKenzie described the timing of the drill, during which sirens wailed and people scrambled off the capital's streets. McKenzie is the manager of New Zealand-based printer and peripheral company Comworth Systems Ltd.
"I have meetings outside in the city and this holds me up," he said. "Taiwan is built on the computer industry and with such an important show like this for one week in the year, Taiwan has to have an air raid exercise."
Robert Sobola, business director for Czech-based 100Mega Distribution -- which sells computers, components and mobile data systems -- thumbed his mobile phone as he waited for the drill to end. "This is no good," he said.
Computex is the biggest computer show in Asia and is the most important exhibition of the year for the nation's tech-export-dependent economy.
During the drill people milled about inside the main entrances of the Taipei World Trade Center -- where the exhibition is being held -- as they were blocked from going outside by security personnel.
As no civilian vehicles were allowed on the streets during the drill, shuttle buses between the two main halls of exhibition center and all commuter traffic in the vicinity stopped operating -- stranding thousands inside the complexes.
H.K. Teoh, marketing manager from US-based National Semiconductor Corp, said the drill was a major annoyance for vendors and buyers alike and further compounded already congested traffic around the exhibition center.
One observer noted that with earthquakes, power supply problems and droughts already causing major problems for businesses operating here, the government shouldn't have further added to the anxiety by reminding foreign firms of the ever-present China risk.
"The economy is only just beginning to pick up and the government is trying to attract investment. Running a drill at this time is a bad idea," said the observer, who writes for a Singapore-based tech magazine and requested anonymity.
"Locking people in -- and out -- of the exhibition hall is not a good way to facilitate business deals," he said.
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