The military said it is able to effectively detect military deployments in China through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), after it expanded detection zones from airspace over eastern and southern Taiwan to airspace over the Taiwan Strait.
According to a military official, who wished to remain anonymous, the US has expressed concern over how the UAV project has developed and military missions the drones are commissioned to perform.
The US has demanded that the Ministry of National Defense send specialists to brief the US Department of Defense on the project before a delegation was to head to the US for a meeting about bilateral cooperation on military issues involving high-level officials from both countries, the military official said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
A UAV launched from a base in western Taiwan would be able to detect military movement in China’s southeast coastal area, he said.
Given Taiwan’s proximity to China, the capability of the UAVs to detect military deployments on the other side of the Taiwan Strait is highly valued by the US, he said.
Despite the US having sophisticated UAVs that can fly long distances to access the area, there are concerns within the US military that such missions would be costly, as well as there being political and military issues preventing its use of UAVs in the area, he added.
The UAV development program was undertaken by the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology. It has delivered 32 UAVs to the army.
In addition to Taimali (太麻里) in Taitung County, where the UAVs are based and training exercises are carried out, the ministry has been in talks with the Civil Aeronautics Administration over the possibility that part of the Hengchun airport in Pingtung could be used as another training base for the drones.
According to sources from the military, the air force’s airspace training area is within the range of missiles deployed in southeast China, making it impossible for the air force to carry out missions in the areas that the UAVs can access.
The military said it was still deliberating whether it would deploy the UAVs in western Taiwan.
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion