The annual Wanan air defense exercise is to be held in several locations across the nation from July 25 to 28, with civilians required to seek shelter during the drills, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
Air raid sirens are to go off at 1:30pm to signal the start of the 30-minute drill in northern Taiwan on July 25, in central Taiwan on July 26, in southern Taiwan on July 27 and in eastern Taiwan and outlying islands on July 28, the ministry said.
Northern Taiwan covers Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Yilan County, Taoyuan, and Hsinchu county and city.
Photo: Military News Agency via CNA
Central Taiwan comprises Taichung and Chiayi City, as well as Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin and Chiayi counties.
Southern Taiwan covers Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County.
Eastern Taiwan and the outlying islands cover Hualien and Taitung, and Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties.
This year’s drill, coded No. 45, aims to raise public awareness of emergency warnings to reduce the possibility of casualties and damage in the event of an air raid, ministry spokesman Major General Sun Li-fang (孫立方) said.
Most road traffic and pedestrian movement would be suspended, as is usually done during the drills, while some people would receive text messages on their phones notifying them about an air raid drill, the ministry said.
The text message would include a link providing information about the nearest air-raid shelter, it said.
People can also download the Police Administrative Service App (警政服務) to access similar information, the ministry said.
MRT services, freeway traffic and commercial flights would operate normally, but disembarking passengers should follow instructions from evacuation personnel, the ministry said.
This year, a stricter evacuation protocol would be applied in three areas, where private vehicles would not only be required to be parked, but their occupants would also need to get out of the vehicles and follow instructions to find air-raid shelters, it said.
The affected areas are Kuangchu ward in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), Fongle Borough (豐樂) in Taichung’s Nantun District (南屯) and Dongqiao Borough (東橋) in Tainan’s Yongkang District (永康), it said.
Those who contravene evacuation measures could be fined NT$30,000 to NT$150,000, the ministry said.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
RSS