Taipei, May 2 (CNA) Scholars and officials in Taiwan said on Monday that the country should be on alert and implement measures to make sure it is safe from possible retaliation by terrorists following the killing of Osama bin Laden by the United States.
On Monday morning Taiwan time, U.S. President Barack Obama announced in a televised statement that the U.S. forces had killed bin Laden in a targeted operation in Pakistan. The al-Qaeda leader was the mastermind behind the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 that killed nearly 3,000 Americans.
Yen Chen-shen, a political scientist at National Chengchi University, said that since Taiwan is a strong U.S. ally, the country should be on alert with its border control and cannot ignore the threat of terrorist attacks or anti-U.S. violence.
"You can't say it's not possible, " Yen said, referring to terrorist threat to Taiwan in the wake of bin Laden's death.
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan, and Taipei 101, a 509.2-meter skyscraper which was officially listed as the world's tallest building from 2004-2010, could be terrorist targets, Yen added.
Commenting on the meaning of the morning's biggest international story, Yen said bin Laden's death is expected to boost American morale as well as Obama's re-election campaign.
However, according to Yen, the U.S. is expected to continue its "fight against terror". Still, bin Laden's death gives the U.S. one more reason to consider pulling out of Afghanistan and redeploying its military forces somewhere else, such as on the Korean Peninsula.
Cheng Chien-jen, a former Taiwan representative to the U.S., said Taiwan should impose measures to prevent possible retaliation from terrorists despite the fact that it has never been targeted before.
Meanwhile, the AIT office in Taipei relayed a message from the U.S. State Department, warning American citizens traveling and residing abroad about the increased potential for anti-American violence. Overseas Americans are urged to limit their travel outside of their homes and hotels and to avoid mass gatherings and demonstrations.
The office did not provide any information about its security measures or whether their visa screening process will be tightened. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ly