Whether Taiwan is more like Israel or Panama in terms of its combat strength yesterday became a point of dispute between lawmakers and defense leaders at the legislature.
The argument stemmed from a report by the Washington Post on April 25, which quoted an anonymous US defense official as saying: "Before we came, we thought we'd find Israel; instead we found Panama."
Quoting the Washington Post report, opposition lawmaker Wang Tien-ging (
"We cannot say there is anything wrong with comparing Taiwan to Panama. But since the comparison is a criticism of Taiwan, we must humbly accept it and seek improvements in our combat strength," Wu said.
Lieutenant General Hu Cheng-pu (
"Whether Taiwan is Panama or not would have to be found out in a real war. The comparison of us to Israel or Panama is from the angle of the US. We can by no means accept the comparison of us to Panama," Hu said.
Meanwhile, Hu also answered inquiries from lawmaker Wang as to the result of the computer wargames portion of the recently ended Hankuang No. 17 exercise.
Quoting a report in a local newspaper, Wang said the result of computer wargames is that Taiwan's military, posing as the red army, lost to the invading Chinese military, posing as the blue army.
Hu refuted the media report as false, saying the wargames did not end with the red army losing and the blue army winning.
"There is no winner or loser in the game. The result of the game only shows how much damage each side has suffered. It will help us know what kind of weapons we still need for the defense of Taiwan," Hu said.
"What happens in the wargames is that we allow the invading Chinese military to move on and land on Taiwan despite the fact that 25 percent of its troops have been destroyed as they are crossing the Taiwan Strait," Hu said.
"Why we do so is because we always assume the enemy is stronger than it actually is. In a real war, the Chinese military will not be able to land on Taiwan if 25 percent of its forces are destroyed while crossing the Strait," he said.
Also answering this question, minister Wu said the purpose of computer wargames is to find out the mistakes troops might make in a real war.
"We launch computer wargames quite often. The mere result of a single game cannot be used to explain all," Wu said.
"Computer wargames are not enough for us. Sometimes we will hold real maneuvers of troops to test whether their results match those of the computer wargames," he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
RSS