The government has 143 food distribution stations around the nation and supply chains that are “fully planned” in the event of an emergency such as an invasion by China, Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) said on Wednesday.
Chen also during a legislative hearing said that Taiwan “currently has five-and-a-half months of public grain reserves” which could increase to “about eight or nine months if [this year’s] harvest is good.”
The state-run reserves “usually last from eight to 12 months,” but Taiwan also has private grain reserves, which means at present the nation’s food needs could be met for a year, he said.
Photo: Yeh Yung-chien, Taipei Times
The distribution process is a collaboration between central and local governments, although the central government “would not directly” handle food distribution in a national emergency, Chen added.
While there are 143 stations, not every county or city requires one, since food distribution plans are not based on those administrative divisions, Chen said.
The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) would provide more detailed information on food distribution plans as part of ongoing preparations for emergency scenarios, including war and natural disasters, he said.
The minister was responding to concerns raised by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲), who cited a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Taiwan’s food security.
The US think tank report said that a Chinese blockade could “at any time” prevent ships from reaching Taiwan, which imports 70 percent of its food and 96 percent of its energy, Weng said.
On Oct. 14 last year, for instance, the China’s military conducted large-scale drills around Taiwan that, according to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, focused on capabilities including “the blockade and control of key ports and areas.”
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