The naval officer who was reportedly responsible for firing a missile into the Taiwan Strait by accident on Friday might have done so due to fatigue, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding that the missile launch control procedure would be revised so that a device necessary to activate the launch sequence would be held in the safekeeping of warship commanders.
According to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office, second-class petty officer Kao Chia-chun (高嘉駿) was sleep-deprived when he accidentally launched a Hsiung Feng III missile on a Chinchiang-class corvette. The missile ripped through a Taiwanese fishing vessel, killing the boat’s captain and injuring three crew.
Kao allegedly had a sleepless night due to stress prior to an equipment inspection and test on Friday, and during a rehearsal of the missile-launch procedure ahead of the test, Kao accidentally switched the missile control panel into “battle mode” and touched the “launch” button, thereby setting off a supersonic anti-ship missile armed with a live warhead.
Chief petty officer Chen Ming-hsiu (陳銘修) accompanied Kao to the operations room to rehearse the drill, but he later went out for a break, leaving Kao alone in the room.
Chen rushed back to the operations room and shifted the control panel back to “training mode” immediately after hearing the missile launch, but he was unable to terminate the missile launch or destroy it.
Prosecutors said Kao had been operating the missile launch system for three years and it was unimaginable that an experienced officer could commit such an error.
Further investigations would be conducted to determine whether the missile was launched by mistake or on purpose and the two men are to be charged with professional negligence causing death, prosecutors said.
To prevent accidental missile launches, the ministry yesterday said that it would require the commanding officer of a battleship to keep a device necessary to launch a missile in their safekeeping.
The device is a plug that connects a wire used to send a launch order, and it has until now been kept by the weapons systems officer, but the ministry said the piece of equipment would now be transferred to the commanding officer of a warship.
The order extends to all the navy’s combat vessels, including Kidd-class warships, Cheng Kung-class, Kang Ding-class and Chi Yang-class frigates, Chinchiang-class corvettes and missile patrol boats.
Navy Command Headquarters Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Mei Chia-shu (梅家樹) said the launch plug was deployed in the misfire incident last week.
The plug is deployed not just during war games, but during regular inspections, even if no missile is scheduled to be launched, Mei said.
Asked whether the control system could be redesigned to prevent accidental launches by a single officer, Mei said the weapons system is designed to be engaged immediately in the event of a war, adding that the navies of all countries deploy a two-person control mechanism to validate a launch order.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS