ACADEMIA

From Wednesday until Friday, the Cabinet will hold its first-ever counter terrorism drill to test a newly established procedure that would go into effect in the event of a terrorist attack, a Cabinet spokesman said on Tuesday. Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) will join the exercises, which will be held at the Center of Joint Exercise and Training in Taipei's Dagr, Cabinet Spokesman Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). Though he did not disclose the details of the drill, Cho said that it was in no way related to recent concerns expressed by the military over Taiwan's capability to respond to "unrestricted warfare" and "anti-decapitation warfare," following a series of supercomputer simulation and live actions exercises. The test is designed to strengthen the government's response capability, using "linkage and deployment," in the event of a terrorist attacks involving toxic, biological, chemical or radioactive materials, as well as attacks with conventional weapons, Cho said. Different from the routine counter terrorism exercises held by the military and the police, the Cabinet's drill focuses primarily on the response of relevant agencies in the administrative branch of the government. He also denied speculations that foreign consultants would participate in the exercises. A special office under the Cabinet was established last December with the purpose of developing anti-terrorism policy and preventative measures in coordination with the national security authorities, under the leadership of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). The nation's counter terrorism efforts are seen as an integration of national security and law enforcement systems, with well-defined decision making procedures and protocols for both the normal and contingent phases of operation, according to the Cabinet. It is the Cabinet's intention that under the special office, seven contingency units would draft contingency plans and preventative measures and hold simulation exercises to test their procedures at least once every three months. The seven units will deal with measures against violence, as well as against biological, toxic and radioactive terrorism tactics and will plan to counter any terrorist attacks on major public infrastructure and facilities that house information and communication enterprises and equipment. A decision-making unit on crisis management will be formed within the NSC to work with the Cabinet's contingent center for counter terrorism, the relevant ministerial mission control centers and the local governments' field contingent centers in the contingent period.