Next month has been designated “national unity month” to boost civilian preparedness and emergency response measures, with urban resilience drills to be held across Taiwan, a national security official said yesterday.
President William Lai (賴清德) is to preside over the fourth meeting of the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee on Thursday, where he would declare next month as “national unity month,” said the official, who wished to remain anonymous.
With the slogan “Team Taiwan, Stronger Together,” the core principle of “national unity month” is that defense is not the sole responsibility of the military, but a duty shared by all citizens, the official said.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
The military and civilians would work together to demonstrate national unity, showing the world Taiwan’s resilience and strong will to defend and protect itself, they said.
Urban resilience exercises would be held across northern, central and southern Taiwan, with each city and county to host civil defense drills, including air raid response drills, they added.
The exercises would run alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military drills, which have been extended to 10 days this year, up from five.
From Wednesday next week to July 31, the Ministry of the Interior and the National Police Agency would host air raid shelter exhibitions with educational displays and emergency preparation kits, the official said, adding that an exhibition would be held in Taipei’s Ximen (西門) MRT Station.
The ministry would also release a new edition of the air defense shelter guide on Wednesday next week, along with an app to help people locate their nearest shelters, they said.
“National unity month” is to begin with air raid alert drills, incorporating emergency medical stations and relief centers, and would be hosted by all 22 local governments in coordination with the Han Kuang exercises, the official said.
The urban resilience drills would be condensed into a single day, testing several scenarios, emergency response systems, and cooperation between military and civilian agencies, including intelligence sharing, they said.
The National Land Management Agency is incorporating air raid shelters into public safety inspections starting this year, they added.
Full-scale evacuation drills would be held in Taipei’s Zhongzheng (中正), Zhongshan (中山) and Songshan (松山) districts, Taichung’s Shalu (沙鹿), Cingshuei (清水) and Wuci (梧棲) districts, and Tainan’s West Central (中西), East (東) and Shanhua (善化) districts, the ministry said.
All residents in the nine districts would participate in drills led by civil defense teams, village wardens, volunteer police officers, firefighters and community organizations, such as building management committees.
Locations such as public parking lots, government buildings and apartment complexes would be required to open their doors as shelters, helping the public to practice air raid procedures, the ministry said.
The drills are being held with the aim of discouraging people from waiting out alerts at convenience stores during the annual Wanan air defense exercise, national security officials said.
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