The annual Wanan air raid drills are to be held across the nation from this month to May, while the Minan disaster prevention drill will include anti-terrorism exercises in preparation for the Universiade in August.
The 40th Wanan drill, a military and civilian exercise, is to be held in seven regions on Taiwan proper and the outlying islands to build public awareness of defense, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
Streets will be evacuated from 1:30pm to 2pm to allow for military exercises, disaster prevention drills, air-raid siren tests and traffic control.
Photo: Tu Chu-min, Taipei Times
The National Police Agency will also test its mobile phone text alert system during the exercise, with information on the annual drill being sent to users when air raid sirens are turned on, All-out Defense Mobilization Office Director Major General Han Kang-ming (韓岡明) said.
The first exercise is to be held in Kinmen County on Tuesday next week, followed by Matsu on Thursday, Hualien and Taitung on March 2, central Taiwan on April 13, southern Taiwan on May 11, northern Taiwan on May 18 and Penghu County on May 24.
Meanwhile, the Minan disaster prevention drill is to be held in Taitung County on March 2, New Taipei City on March 9, Hualien County on March 16, Taichung on March 23, Taipei on March 29 and 30, Tainan on April 6, Chiayi City on April 13, Keelung on April 20, Taoyuan on April 27, Kaohsiung on May 11 and Hsinchu City on May 18.
The drills are meant to familiarize the military and civilians with region-specific disasters and response procedures, with representatives of the nation’s diplomatic allies to be invited to observe the exercises, Han said.
The ministry will cooperate with the Executive Yuan’s Office of Homeland Security to conduct counterterrorism drills during the Minan exercise in Taipei to prepare the city government for the Universiade in summer, Han said.
“The Wanan drill is to familiarize the armed forces and civilians with the nation’s air defense to reduce the impact of an air raid, while the Minan drill is to build a systematic disaster prevention mechanism,” ministry spokesman Major General Chen Chung-chi (陳中吉) said.
A recently discovered supernova is the brightest and closest to Earth identified in the past decade, and can be observed with basic equipment, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said on Wednesday. The supernova has an absolute magnitude of 14.9 in luminosity and is in the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) about 21 million light-years from Earth. It was discovered early on May 20 by Japanese amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki, who immediately reported the finding to the International Astronomical Union, the museum said. The supernova was designated SN 2023ixf following the astronomical naming conventions for supernovas, it added. The museum said that it observed
Tropical storm Guchol is moving in a northeasterly direction off the east coast of the Philippines and will not hit Taiwan, but will impact local weather starting on Friday, the Central Weather Bureau said Thursday. The storm would bring a low-pressure system northward toward the vicinity of Taiwan, forecaster Chao Hung (趙竑) said. Northern Taiwan will see intermittent rain showers in the morning, and thunderstorms in the afternoon on Friday, he said, adding that rain would be heavier on the east coast and in the central-southern mountainous areas. Rainfall would continue into Saturday, and would spread throughout Taiwan proper, he
Exiled Chinese democracy advocate Wang Dan (王丹) yesterday denied an accusation by former Taiwanese political worker Lee Yuan-chun (李援軍) that Wang had sexually harassed him in a hotel room in New York nine years ago. There was a huge gap between Lee’s accusation and his own understanding and memory, Wang wrote on Facebook, adding it was hard for him to respond further regarding a “unilateral description” made by someone else. Wang made the remarks after his initial response on Facebook was met with criticism, with people saying he did not directly address the allegation. Lee on Friday wrote on Facebook that he
A man was arrested in Hsinchu on Saturday on suspicion of filming women in the women’s washroom of a shopping mall in the city, local Chinese-language media reported on Thursday. The man was arrested at around noon on Saturday when a woman using a stall in the mall’s washroom noticed a cellphone being held above her from the neighboring stall, reports said. The woman ran out of the washroom and yelled to her husband to help her, after which the suspect – who was dressed as a woman – attempted to flee, but was subdued by other men until police
RSS