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Taiwan’s ‘wartime scenario’ security drills to target critical infrastructure

  • Series of exercises later this year to focus on ‘operational resilience’ of essential facilities
  • Government agencies, transport hubs, hospitals among sites to be evaluated, security bureau says

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Taiwan’s Office of Homeland Security did not indicate which facilities or locations would be included in coming security drills, but it did indicate which they would take place throughout the year. Photo AFP
Taiwan has begun preparations for a series of homeland security drills aimed at fortifying the “operational resilience” of the island’s critical infrastructure amid persistent concerns over a cross-strait conflict.
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The drills, to be held later this year, will focus on 20 critical infrastructure sites, including government agencies, public utilities, transport hubs, hospitals, industrial complexes, and science parks, according to Taiwan’s National Security Bureau.

“The primary emphasis in these drills should be on advancing the integration of the defence ministry’s ‘transition from peacetime to wartime’ scenario,” the bureau said in a report sent for legislative review last week and obtained by the South China Morning Post on Monday.

The report said the integration would be pivotal for evaluating the resilience of facility operations under both standard and evolving conditions.

Taiwan’s Office of Homeland Security, which will oversee the exercises, would also conduct inspections at another 40 critical infrastructure locations this year, the bureau said.

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Due to the sites’ sensitive nature, the report did not indicate which facilities or locations would be included in the exercises, and specific dates for the drills and inspections were not disclosed, but the bureau said they would be spread throughout the year.

Critical infrastructure, as detailed in an office handbook, is categorised into eight sectors: energy, water resources, telecommunications, transport, finance, emergency services, government agencies, and industrial zones.

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