Pan-blue legislators slammed the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday for "not standing up to Japan," with one prominent lawmaker calling Japan a "dangerous element" in the region on a par with North Korea.
The lawmakers made the comments while panning CGA Director Wang Chin-wang (
"There's been a lot a talk about the arms bill lately, but little said about our Coast Guard Administration, which is oftentimes the only line of defense for our maritime territory, including our economic zones," said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Joanna Lei (雷情) during the meeting.
Lei added that the coast guard focused too much on intercepting Chinese vessels while Japan bullied Taiwanese fishing boats with virtual impunity.
"How many of our boats have Chinese authorities intercepted this year?" Lei asked Wang.
"None," Wong answered, adding that Japan refuses to recognize Taiwan's proposed maritime boundaries.
"So why are we stopping Chinese boats when they don't stop ours? Japan is our biggest bully. How come we're not doing more to assert our maritime sovereignty over Japan?" Lei asked.
KMT Legislator John Wu (
"Japan colonized us for half a century, and while their Self Defense Forces sound innocuous, they are actually very powerful," Wu said, adding that Japan was as dangerous as North Korea.
Regarding the Diaoyutai, Wu said that a Taiwan-Japan "showdown" was necessary to make the country's stance clear.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
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