President 
Lai Ching-te inspected Taiwan's National Disaster Prevention Day earthquake drill in Taitung on Friday, its final day, saying disasters know no borders. Representatives of 18 foreign missions, including the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and Canada's trade office, watched the exercise, which simulated a magnitude 7.3 quake striking Hualien and Taitung, CNA reported. At the Taitung County fire bureau's Fengtian branch, Lai viewed a simulated disaster-zone rescue and exchanged views with international rescue teams.
What did the drill simulate? The scenario placed the quake in the southern Huatung Valley, and the exercise mobilised 19 cities and counties, 17 central government agencies and three major telecoms carriers, the Ministry of the Interior said in a statement carried by CNA. It was run on a "semi-warning, no-script" basis, with damage to critical infrastructure and the loss of outside support built in. Drawing on communications outages caused by last year's Typhoon Danas, it simulated slowed mobile networks in two townships to test backup communications.
Who took part? More than 150 search-and-rescue and emergency medical personnel from 11 countries drilled with Taiwan over the three days, Lai said. AIT Taipei director Raymond Greene attended, while the secretary-general of the National Security Council, the defence minister and Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) accompanied the president. Liu said the cross-agency exercise tested preparedness and response capacity for a major quake, and the ministry said experts and representatives from 36 countries had been invited to observe.
What did the president say? Drilling together in peacetime builds shared procedures and understanding, so that rescue efforts are stronger when disaster strikes and can save lives anywhere in the world, Lai said in a speech after the inspection. He cited a memorandum signed two years ago between the National Fire Agency's special search-and-rescue team and a German international rescue team, and said the number of trained disaster prevention specialists (防災士) has passed 177,000, up from over 100,000 at the end of last year.
Figures referenced: Lai Ching-te. — JudgeMarket.
