Page 3 of Tuesday’s Taipei Times had a story informing us that a surprise war drill in Taiwan will be held later this month. The purpose of the drill is not to see how fast the jets can be scrambled or the defense systems can be brought on-line; the goal is to evacuate Taiwan’s political leadership from downtown Taipei, and rehearse the strategic / political response to a Chinese attack:
According to a report in the Chinese-language newspaper the China Times, President Chen Shui-bian (
陳水扁) and high-level Cabinet members will suddenly be informed later this month without warning that Chinese missiles will reach Taipei within minutes. They will be required to meet at an emergency room at the Hengshan [Mountain] ( 衡山) strategic command in Taipei’s northern suburb of Dazhi ( 大直) within 10 minutes.
I can’t find Dazhi on my map of Taipei, so I’m going to guess that it’s somewhere near the Yangmingshan area. The President is supposed to be spirited there by chopper, but the defense minister will have to get there by car.
In ten minutes. From the middle of downtown Taipei.
He doesn’t need a car. What he needs is transporter technology or a pair of ruby slippers. The roads in Northern Taiwan are pretty congested, and they’d be even more difficult to navigate after the inevitable sabotage.* Maybe traffic control could give him green lights all the way, but you’d have to expect electronic warfare on that front as well.
I just hope that one of his deputies is posted in Hengshan at all times. Because the minister of defense just might be awhile.
The story goes on to say what will happen in Hengshan:
"Chen will immediately conduct a 90-minute national security meeting, followed by a 60-minute military meeting. The president will then decide whether the country would declare war against China after the meetings," the report said.
The report said that the war games will simulate two scenarios: Taiwan coming under a large-scale missile attack from China and China launching a decapitation-style attack on Taipei.
The report said various political, military, diplomatic and economic issues would be dealt with in the war-games, including outlining how to ask for foreign help, ways to communicate with the nation’s most important allies, the US and Japan, as well as methods to reassure the public and stabilize consumer prices, and rescue the injured.
What can I say about any of this? I’m just glad that I don’t have Chen’s job.
* Sabotage will of course, be facilitated when large numbers of Chinese are permitted into the country as "tourists". Perhaps as a sign of hospitality, each should be given a rifle and grenade at customs, so as to save them the long commute to their pre-positioned weapons drop points.