Since China announced an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea, there have been 13 sightings of US military aircraft in the zone and 85 instances of Japanese aircraft entering the zone, a senior military official told lawmakers yesterday.
Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence Ke Wen-an (柯文安) made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee during which officials were asked to give assessments of the situation following the declaration of the ADIZ on Nov. 23.
The zone includes the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), which are claimed by Taiwan, China and Japan — which calls them the Senkaku Islands. China has demanded that foreign aircraft passing through the zone file flight plans in advance and strictly follow instructions from its air-traffic controllers.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Citing information collected by the military, Ko said China has sent its military aircraft to the area 55 times since it announced the new zone and there were three instances in which the Chinese planes were in close proximity to aircraft from Japan or the US.
The planes were very close to each other, Ko reiterated, when Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) asked whether China had intercepted any foreign aircraft in the zone.
Minister of National Defense Yen Ming (嚴明) told the committee that no Chinese military aircraft have entered Taiwan’s ADIZ since Beijing’s Nov. 23 announcement.
Responding to questions from lawmakers on the committee earlier in the day, Civil Aeronautics Administration Director-General Jean Shen (沈啟) said that aircraft from Taiwan had previously been intercepted by Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force in an area where the two countries’ airspace zones overlap.
In 2002, Japanese defense craft “monitored” a Taiwanese plane testing a new air route designated B591, which stretches from Taipei to northeastern China through the overlapping zones, according to CAA official Margaret Hong (洪美雲).
A similar incident occurred in 2009, she said.
Shen said the area falls between longitude 123? and 124? east.
Japan asked Taiwan to provide flight plans through the overlap starting in 2009, and Taiwan has complied, she said.
However, Japanese self-defense planes have intercepted Taiwanese civil aircraft in the region, which “poses a great danger” to Taiwan’s flight control, she said.
Hsiao said interference from Japanese fighter planes can seriously impact the safety of Taiwan’s civil aircraft on normal flight routes.
Hong told reporters after the hearing that “interception” is a military term meaning that the Japanese fighter was dispatched to “learn about the situation” and she did not know how close the two planes had come to one another.
Additional reporting by Rich Chang
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS