The military will strengthen its air and sea patrols in the lead-up to Saturday's election while keeping a close eye on China's ballistic missile and submarine deployments, the Ministry of National Defense announced yesterday.
"The armed forces will stay on alert around the clock during the election period. This is aimed at providing a secure and stable environment for the public to cast their votes on the election day," ministry spokesman Major General Huang Suei-sheng (黃穗生) said at a weekly press conference yesterday.
"Election day has been declared a day for `focused alert.' Our focus on that day and days before will be on air and sea patrols. Check and identification of targets is to be one of the priority tasks," Huang said.
"There is no sign to show that the Chinese military has any unusual deployments across the Taiwan Strait. But we will keep a close watch on the Chinese military, especially its ballistic missile and submarine forces," he said.
"The ministry has already in place rapid-response plans for any unusual deployments of the ballistic missile and submarine forces of the Chinese military," he said.
Huang, however, played down the significance of a joint Sino-French military exercise held off the coast of Qingdao, Shandong Province, yesterday.
"Two French warships were at Qingdao between March 12 and March 16 for a visit. The two ships then participated in an exercise with the Chinese navy," Huang said.
"The exercise is on maritime search and rescue, falling into the category of humanitarian aid. It is a basic and entry-level maneuver," he said.
The arrival of the French warships in the region coincided with the presence of the USS Kitty Hawk in the waters between China and Taiwan earlier this month. The ministry has declined to comment on the motives behind the Kitty Hawk presence.
However, the aircraft carrier's presence carries strong indications that the US does not want to see any conflict break out between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait at this moment.
Huang confirmed media reports that the military police has already deployed the Avenger pedestal-mounted Stinger anti-aircraft missile in Taipei. The Stinger is among the best man-portable surface-to-air missile in the world.
"The deployment started in December. It was part of the normal arms build-up," Huang said, declining to connect it with the election.
Yesterday was the first time the ministry made public its security plans for the election and officials appeared confident of providing a secure environment for election day.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS