Minister of National Defense Lee Tien-yu (李天羽) said at a luncheon with reporters yesterday that the president has the authority to visit any part of the nation's territory at any time and the military was obliged to facilitate any such visit.
"He [the president] has the authority to do that," Lee said. "It is our job to make sure that any trip the president makes is as safe as possible."
Lee's comments referred to speculation that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was planning to visit the newly completed airstrip on Taiping Island (太平島), the biggest atoll of the Spratly Islands (南沙群島), located 1,600km southwest of Kaohsiung.
The Spratly Islands, which consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs surrounded by fishing grounds and oil deposits, are claimed either entirely or partially by Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Lee said the runway, which is 1,198m long and 7m wide, can accommodate aircraft as large as a C-130 Hercules. It takes approximately seven to eight hours to reach Taiping Island from Kaohsiung.
The minister confirmed that the runway is now ready and that Air Force Commander-in-chief Peng Sheng-chu (
If the president was planning to visit the island, the ministry would help organize a trip for reporters as well, Lee said.
Meanwhile, Marshall Islands President Litokwa Tomeing yesterday reassured Vice President Annette Lu (
Tomeing, who had earlier voiced support for forging ties with Beijing, pledged to Lu in a speech that the Marshall Islands -- one of only 23 countries that recognizes Taiwan -- would not forsake Taipei. He also said his country would continue to support Taiwan's efforts to join the UN and the WHO.
Lu arrived in the Marshall Islands yesterday at the start of a three-nation Pacific tour that also includes stops in Nauru and the Solomon Islands. All three Pacific island nations have changed government in the past two months.
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
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