Taiwan to tighten anti-terrorism training: minister
ROC Central News Agency
2013/04/17 13:30:18
Taipei, April 17 (CNA) Interior Minister Lee Hong-yuan said Wednesday that Taiwan should strengthen its anti-terrorism consciousness and training after the country was nearly hit by bomb attacks last week.
"We should also conduct an overall review of our inter-ministerial anti-terrorism operation mechanism in the wake of the recent failed bombings on the high-speed railway and at a legislator's office," Lee said on the sidelines of a Legislative Yuan session.
The minister said he felt saddened by the bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday that have left three dead and well over 100 people injured and called them an act of terrorism.
"While terrorist attacks have been rare in Taiwan, we should heighten our alert against terrorism," Lee said.
In the past, he said, Taiwan has focused mostly on preventing natural disasters.
The Ministry of the Interior will join forces with national security authorities and other concerned government agencies in reinforcing the country's anti-terrorism mechanism and action plans, Lee said.
Asked whether security measures will be tightened on bullet trains following the recent close call on the high-speed railway, Lee said a balance needs to be worked out before any concrete steps are taken.
"If current security check guidelines for commercial flights are applied to high-speed rail rides, passenger flow systems will have to be redesigned, which would cause inconveniences," Lee said, adding that national conditions should also figure in the decision.
At the moment, he said, the most important thing is to determine why individuals planted bombs on a bullet train.
"Police and prosecutors are investigating whether it was an isolated incident or part of a series of organized terrorist attacks," he said.
Two men suspected of carrying out the failed bombing attempts in northern Taiwan on April 12 were taken into police custody Tuesday, but their motive remained a mystery.
Hu Tsung-hsien and Chu Ya-tung, both in their 40s, fled to Guangdong Province in China on April 12 soon after planting two bombs in a toilet on a high-speed rail train and two others outside Kuomintang Legislator Lu Chia-chen's office in New Taipei.
None of the bombs, which were packed in suitcases, exploded.
The two men were arrested with the help of Chinese authorities and were brought back to Taiwan Tuesday.
The New Taipei District Court on Wednesday granted prosecutors' request to hold the duo in custody pending further investigation.
(By Claudia Liu, Liu Shih-yi and Sofia Wu)
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