A new office building of the "Defense Ministry" of Taiwan, the so-called "Pentagon of Taiwan", broke ground on December 18 at Dazhiyuan, the location of the former Army Force University of Taipei, which is expected to be finished by 2008, according to "China Times", a local newspaper in the island.

A budget as high as 13.3 billion dollars (Taiwan New Dollar, same below, four dollars equal to about one Renminbi yuan) was set by the "Executive Yuan", and the project includes a main building, an east wing and a logistic building, all of a reinforced concrete structure.

The project, plus the original buildings, covers a total area of 19 hectares capable of accommodating 5,000-6,000 people working or living. The main building connects the island's "navy headquarters", "air force headquarters" and "Hengshan command post", forming a "national defense park" controlling the island's security, or the "Dazhi special military zone" in future.

"All that should be reinforced have been done so"

Senior military officers of Taiwan are quite proud of this costly project, and specially sent a general to give a detailed introduction to the press about the "powerful functions" of the new building.

Firstly, it is of super-strong protective capability. Built with reinforced concrete, the building is capable of resisting earthquakes measuring 7 on the Richter scale, which is very important for the frequently quake-hit island.

To counter ever-fiercer global terrorism, lawns are designed in front of the building to lengthen the time for reacting to bomb attacks on cars. Meanwhile, the building is equipped with entrance guarding and surveillance systems, and the two verification systems, ID card and fingerprints identifier, are to be instituted to prevent attackers from sneaking in.

What worth mentioning is that the Taiwan military is under multiplied pressure since the authority of Chen Shui-bian has kept provoking the "One China" principle and creating tensions across the Straits. So they set up fire nets round the building and disposed artillery and missiles there. Moreover, the Taiwan military analyzed that the mainland may have already equipped with advanced e-bombs, so they are prepared to erect an electromagnetic screen round the office building and another establishment. The Taiwan military claimed gleefully, "We can say all places that need to be reinforced have been done so."

Besides, the building will be linked up with the "Hengshan command post" through two aboveground and underground passages, to facilitate wartime command and transfer. According to engineers, the building, located at the foot of a hill and in the opposite direction against attacks from fighters and missiles, is of the best strategic protective effect; while the "Hengshan command post" lies just next-door. Once a war or a terrorist attack occurs, commanders will be able to quickly reach the said command post through a platform bridge.

According to an officer of an engineer corps, before construction above the ground started, a secret underground passage leading to the "Hengshan command post" and headquarters of other services had been dug, and the project has been completed.

The local military even compared the building with the Pentagon of the United States. By calling it "a full match" of the American Pentagon, local military said although there is not a single building in the world that can sustain aircraft attacks, the escape system of the "Taiwan Pentagon" is the world's best.

"Patriot" anti-missile system to be added around the new building

The Taiwan military not only mapped out a construction plan for the main building, but also, in light of their military strength, set targets for future development. That is, after completing the three main buildings before 2008, they will continue to put in a huge sum of money to the tune of 15 billion Taiwan dollars to construct an electronic network covering the "Hengshan command post" as well as headquarters of various armed services.

Besides, the local authorities will, in light of the development of cross-Straits situations, consider adding a "Patriot" anti-missile system around the buildings to raise their capability of resisting missile attacks from the mainland.

Informed resources also revealed that the Jinan Hill at Taipei's Shili District has been hollowed out to reserve space for the expansion of the "Hengshan command post". The underground passage linking the "Taiwan Pentagon" and the command post will also be widened to "allow the passage of tanks".

Military buildings trigger strong protest from nearby residents

In order to enhance the island's capability of "using force to resist reunification", the Taiwan authorities led by Chen Shui-bian have in recent years stepped up their military construction from all levels, and the building of the "Taiwan Pentagon" is a case in point.

To this end, the local authorities never flinch from sacrificing the vital interests of Taiwan people.

In the construction process, they not only occupied nearby trunk lines of civil traffic, causing inconvenience to residents, but also giving rise to serious pollution problems.

What merits more attention is that in the future, the high-energy electromagnetic wave emitted by the weapons and electronic equipment installed in the big building will constitute grave threats to the living of residents in neighborhood.

Taiwan people have spontaneously staged protest demonstrations against this, calling on the authorities to stop or rebuild the project. But Taiwan leaders turned a deaf ear to them and obstinately insisted on starting construction as scheduled.

(People's Daily December 25, 2003)