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Taiwan's security focus should be natural disasters: U.S. expert

ROC Central News Agency

08/12/10 16:12:29

By Andrew Lee

Taipei, Dec.10 (CNA) Taiwan's critical infrastructure protection policies should focus on the threat natural disasters pose to the country's key facilities, asserted Paul Rosenzweig, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of homeland security, at a conference in Taipei Wednesday.

Rosenzweig said that threats to a nation's critical infrastructure arise not only from man-made causes, such as terrorism, but also from natural disasters.

“The United States has just been through the hurricane season. Taiwan has also just passed through the typhoon season. These are all threats to a nation's security,”Rosenzweig explained at the International Conference on Homeland Security and Technology.

Rosenzweig stressed that the essence of critical infrastructure protection (CIP) is to identify which facilities are vulnerable to natural disasters, or even terrorist attacks, and then work out a strategy to protect them.

“For Taiwan, natural disasters top all other threats to its infrastructure. This is what Taiwan should take into account for its CIP policy," he said.

American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Stephen Young said, however, that maintaining the continued security of the global trading system was also important to Taiwan and the U.S., and he noted that Washington and Taipei have cooperated closely in this area.

"The challenge is to maintain the openness and vibrancy of our economic and commercial ties while ensuring that this openness cannot be used against us," Young said.

One joint program put in place in 2005, Young said, is the Container Security Initiative (CSI) , which ensures the safety of goods flowing from and through the U.S. and Taiwan, and expedites the flow of Taiwan's own shipments to the U.S.

The CSI primarily targets terrorist activity but also can detect other forms of illicit activity. For instance, Young said, U.S. and Taiwan Customs officers have stopped shipments of contraband, including precursor drugs, counterfeit currency, and products that violate intellectual property rights, through the initiative.

Another program mentioned by Young was the Megaports Initiative, established in 2003, to prevent terrorists from smuggling nuclear or other radioactive materials through commercial shipping channels.

Taiwan began working with the U.S. to implement the program in 2006.

"This high-tech scanning has minimal impact on port operations but facilitates trade by increasing the security of seaports. This cooperation is a potent symbol of our commitment to international maritime security," Young said.

Taiwan also cooperates with the U.S. on export controls, especially in the area of enforcement, technology transfers and transshipment under the U.S. Export Control and Related Border Security program, Young said.

Taiwan's recent development of electronic passports is also welcomed by Washington, Young said, noting that the more secure a nation's travel documents, the more able it is to protect itself from international terrorist and criminal activity.

He warned, however, that Taiwan's efforts to introduce the new passport needed to be "matched by a corresponding strengthening of application procedures so passports are not inadvertently issued to people who are not Taiwan citizens."

Though trade and the free movement of goods are critical to Taiwan's economy, the greatest blows to its infrastructure have come at home, and Rosenzweig suggested that Taiwan needed a risk-based approach that was flexible.

The U.S. had learned in New Orleans how serious a natural disaster could be if local infrastructure could not withstand the forces of nature.

“The bottom line is that there is no quick approach in addressing the issue of protection for a nation’s infrastructure, ” Rosenzweig said.“A risk-based approach is needed. We have to put money where it is needed the most.”

If a protection strategy is not cost effective, he said, "then the government has to say you can't build such and such here.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has created 18 sector-specific CIP plans, each with its own governing council, ranging from information technology and energy facilities, to dams and most recently to automakers, heavy equipment manufacturers and steel producers.

“We recognize that there can't be a one-size fit-all program on how to protect our infrastructure, ”Rosenzweig said.“What you need to protect a dam is different from what you need to protect IT systems.”