Legislators questioned the professionalism of the Ministry of National Defense yesterday after it gave out incorrect information on the middle line of the Taiwan Strait.
Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) last Wednesday confirmed the existence of the middle line of the Taiwan Strait, a strategic line to keep Taiwanese and Chinese military forces apart.
Lee said the line ran from 23? north latitude, 119?east longitude to 27?north latitude, 123? east longitude, as defined by the US in 1951.
But local media said two days ago that Lee's information was wrong. They said the line as defined by Lee ran along the west coast of Taiwan rather than through the middle of the Taiwan Strait.
The media said that the correct location should have been one degree west of the one given by Lee.
News reports said one degree amounts to a difference of 100km and condemned the ministry for making the error.
The ministry issued a correction, saying the line should run from 26? 30 minutes north latitude, 121?23 minutes east longitude to 24? 50 minutes north latitude, 119?59 minutes east longitude, to 23? 17 minutes north latitude, 117? 51 minutes east longitude.
Ministry spokesman Major-General Huang Suei-sheng (黃穗生) said the mistake might have been made because the ministry's staff were rushing to prepare the information for Wednesday's question-and-answer session.
The TSU caucus said it would demand the ministry make a special report on the mistake.
"When Lee came to the legislature to be questioned on Wednesday his staff already knew he might be asked about the middle line and prepared a map in advance. But it was a surprise that they should still make such a mistake. The staff's professionalism is in doubt," said TSU Legislator Ho Min-hao (何敏豪), a member of the National Defense Committee.
"Lee gave out the information on Wednesday, but the ministry did not issue a correction until Saturday. There might be something suspicious going on here, and the TSU caucus will demand that the Ministry of Defense offer a report on this mistake," Ho said.
"It is a grievous mistake of the staff to allow the minister to make such an error on such an important issue," DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) said the mistake was unthinkable.
"When Lee was questioned on Wednesday, he was accompanied by several other generals, and no one spotted the mistake. The middle line should be as familiar to these generals as their own names, yet the ministry still made the mistake when reporting to the legislature," Lu said.
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday vowed to investigate claims made in a YouTube video about China’s efforts to politically influence young Taiwanese and encourage them to apply for Chinese ID cards. The council’s comments follow Saturday’s release of a video by Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源) and YouTuber “Pa Chiung (八炯)” on China’s “united front” tactics. It is the second video on the subject the pair have released this month. In the video, Chen visits the Taiwan Youth Entrepreneurship Park in Quanzhou in China’s Fujian Province and the Strait Herald news platform in Xiamen, China. The Strait Herald — owned by newspaper
NEW YEAR’S ADDRESS: ‘No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path,’ William Lai said, urging progress ‘without looking back’ President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday urged parties across the political divide to democratically resolve conflicts that have plagued domestic politics within Taiwan’s constitutional system. In his first New Year’s Day address since becoming president on May 20 last year, Lai touched on several issues, including economic and security challenges, but a key emphasis was on the partisan wrangling that has characterized his first seven months in office. Taiwan has transformed from authoritarianism into today’s democracy and that democracy is the future, Lai said. “No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path for Taiwan,” he said. “The only choice
CORRUPTION: Twelve other people were convicted on charges related to giving illegal benefits, forgery and money laundering, with sentences ranging from one to five years The Yilan District Court yesterday found Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) guilty of corruption, sentencing her to 12 years and six months in prison. The Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office in 2022 indicted 10 government officials and five private individuals, including Lin, her daughter and a landowner. Lin was accused of giving illegal favors estimated to be worth NT$2.4 million (US$73,213) in exchange for using a property to conduct activities linked to the 2020 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential and legislative election campaigns. Those favors included exempting some property and construction firms from land taxes and building code contraventions that would have required
RSS