Taichung City held the All-Out Defense Mobilization and Disaster Prevention and Relief (Min-An No. 9) Exercise today (13th). Chiao-Jen Elementary School in Urui District held a military simulation in the morning. In the afternoon, they conducted a comprehensive practical exercise in the open space next to Exit 2 of the HSR Taichung Station and Shiuhkuang Elementary School in Urui District. Besides practicing natural disaster relief and response measures, the government has added a new "wartime disaster rescue" project for the first time, mobilizing over 1100 people in response to the international situation. Mayor Shiow-Yen Lu presided over the event and stated that today's exercise was a complete success, demonstrating the determination to protect the country and the people. More importantly, we should strive to avoid war and various disasters. The ultimate objective of national security is to be prepared for battle but avoid war.
"Defending the country depends on us!" Mayor Lu said that after extensive preparations some time ago, Min-An No. 9 Exercise today is the first local government civil security drill around the country this year, and the exercise was very successful. The significance of today's exercise is to list the war as a project for the first time this year. Also, peace in the Taiwan Strait has become the focus of attention of the whole world under the tense situation in the Taiwan Strait. At this time, the exercise is of particular significance. We have declared to the world and the people of our country that we have the determination to defend our country, Taichung, and the people. We will exhaust all our strength and resources to prepare for this exercise. At the end of the event, she inspected the shelter and relief station for victims of wartime disasters and thanked all the partners who participated in the exercise.

Mayor Lu affirmed the dedication and hard work of all units in today's exercise. And she requested all units to review and improve after the drill, which we should not neglect them. The mayor also made two suggestions. First, preparation can always be more and better. Therefore, today we should not be complacent with the complete success of the exercise but work harder. Second, its cruelty and destruction must be more sizable than imagined if there has a war. Therefore, she emphasized to all bureau directors present that they must be more responsive and responsible in the future. Preparing for exercises and mobilization is significant from the national security and strategy perspective, but more importantly, try to avoid wars and various disasters. To be able to battle but keep away from war is the highest goal of national security.

Wen-Zhong Liu, Deputy Minister of the Atomic Energy Council of the Executive Yuan, said today's exercise has successfully and smoothly carried out with the joint efforts of various groups. Thank the participants very much for their enthusiastic participation and careful practice. Once again, on behalf of the Executive Yuan, he would like to express our sincerest gratitude and affirmation to the participants for their efforts and hard work. The Deputy Minister also mentioned that it was the first time in recent years that Mayor Lu led all the directors of various bureaus to participate in the drill, indicating that Taichung City is the county and city that attaches the most importance to disaster prevention and rescue, providing the most considerable protection of citizens' lives and property. Today's Min-An No. 9 exercise in Taichung City is worthy of reference for other counties and cities. It facilitates timely and adequate support from civil defense in national defense matters, boosts the morale of the military and the people, and ensures national security. Additionally, it effectively integrates the response capacity for complex disasters.

The government divided today's exercise into two stages the "military simulation" and the "comprehensive practical exercise." Mayor Lu, as the commander, guided throughout the entire process and led multiple bureaus and district directors of the city government to participate in the morning military simulation and comprehensive practical exercise in the afternoon, which simulated the attacked situation of Taiwan Railway, High Speed Rail, and MRT (three rails). It also tests the transformation and adaptability of wartime operations, besides verifying the accumulated combat readiness energy of the city government in peacetime. Chun-Mei Lin, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Defense Mobilization Meeting of the Executive Yuan, Wen-Zhong Liu, Deputy Minister of the Atomic Energy Council of the Executive Yuan, De-Sheng Fang, Advisory Officer of the Office of Disaster Management of the Executive Yuan and Zhi-Sheng Wang, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Exercise Control Department, all attended and cheered on the participants.

Fu-You Sun, Director of the Fire Department, indicated this comprehensive practice combined with wind and water disaster scenarios to simulate flooding and debris flow disaster drills caused by typhoons. The city government also sent evacuation and refuge messages through the Cell Broadcast Service (CBS), taking appropriate precautions and response actions. Moreover, the simulated wartime disaster rescue, including the paralysis of the three-rail joint structure station caused by the bomb attack, the leakage of radioactive materials, and the emergency response to oil and gas transportation and storage facilities, demonstrates the ability of the city government to coordinate and integrate disaster relief resources in wartime. And through the support and assistance of administrative agencies, public institutions, and civilian disaster relief energy, verify the operation of the city government's peace and war transition mechanism, the command response of military contracts, and the integration performance of civilian disaster relief resources.

The fire department explained that the Min-An No. 9 exercise involved the mobilization of various entities, including the National Army, National Airborne Service Corps, private institutions, non-governmental voluntary organizations, and county and city governments. The exercise dispatched one helicopter sortie, 102 vehicles of various types, 1112 participants, and two search and rescue dogs. It integrates resources from all parties, improves operational efficiency, and demonstrates the results of peacetime disaster prevention and relief preparations. The fire department also said the city government adheres to the "more preparedness, less disaster damage" belief. And the military, government, and civilians have established closer communication and cooperation channels through the exercise. We can minimize losses by only doing an excellent job in disaster prevention and rescue work when disasters occur and jointly creating a safe and secure living environment.