Shanghai builds vast bunker to shield against terrorism attack

The Telegraph
Jul. 31, 2006

The authorities in Shanghai, which is the Chinese financial hub, have built a huge underground shelter against the eventuality of terrorism or industrial accidents.

The vast 968,400sq ft subterranean complex could accommodate 200,000 people for up to 15 days.

It is linked to government offices, commercial and residential areas and the transport system by a labyrinth of tunnels.

The bunker can protect occupants from "nuclear radiation, poisonous gases, explosions and other disasters," the state's news agency Xinhua reported yesterday.

"In peacetime, parts of the bunker could be used as garages, warehouses or commercial facilities," added a civil defence official.

The mayor of Shanghai, Han Zheng, ordered an overhaul of the city's civil defence programme because of fears about Islamic terrorism in the disputed Xinjiang province and an increase in the number of industrial accidents resulting in chemical leaks.

The bunker is more modern than Beijing's underground city - which is a 20-mile network of tunnels built under the order of Chairman Mao following the 1969 Sino-Soviet border conflict.