The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said the military police would be merged with the Army, with military police command falling under the chief of general staff.
“As we continue to cut military personnel numbers, we are planning to merge the three command headquarters — logistics, reserve forces and military police — with the Army,” ministry spokesman Major General Yu Sy-tue (虞思祖) said.
Yu said that in addition to the military police’s regular assignments such as ensuring security at the Presidential Office and maintaining military discipline, once it came under the command of the chief of general staff, it would be given other assignments, including investigating military scandals and bribery.
The spokesman said more details of the change would be made public after the plan is finalized.
Meanwhile, to avoid disturbing students who will be taking their college entrance exams today, tomorrow and Friday, the ministry has requested that the Air Force not hold air training for pilots between 8:30am and 3pm, as the exams will be held in Hsinchu, Taichung, Pingtung, Hualien, Taitung, Tainan and Chiayi, which all have air bases.
The request, however, contradicts a regulation that the Air Force must carry out stricter security measures and military status whenever the president is abroad — that flights and training courses be increased and that fighter aircraft be ready for takeoff within three minutes after an order has been given.
The Air Force said pilots had been given special instructions and that the two requests would not contradict each other.
“We still have a lot of training to do between 8:30am and 3pm. Those training courses are necessary and important. I do not think the ban will impact our plan to carry out stricter security measures,” an officer from the Air Force Command Headquarters said on condition of anonymity.The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said the military police would be merged with the Army, with military police command falling under the chief of general staff.
“As we continue to cut military personnel numbers, we are planning to merge the three command headquarters — logistics, reserve forces and military police — with the Army,” ministry spokesman Major General Yu Sy-tue (虞思祖) said.
Yu said that in addition to the military police’s regular assignments such as ensuring security at the Presidential Office and maintaining military discipline, once it came under the command of the chief of general staff, it would be given other assignments, including investigating military scandals and bribery.
The spokesman said more details of the change would be made public after the plan is finalized.
Meanwhile, to avoid disturbing students who will be taking their college entrance exams today, tomorrow and Friday, the ministry has requested that the Air Force not hold air training for pilots between 8:30am and 3pm, as the exams will be held in Hsinchu, Taichung, Pingtung, Hualien, Taitung, Tainan and Chiayi, which all have air bases.
The request, however, contradicts a regulation that the Air Force must carry out stricter security measures and military status whenever the president is abroad — that flights and training courses be increased and that fighter aircraft be ready for takeoff within three minutes after an order has been given.
The Air Force said pilots had been given special instructions and that the two requests would not contradict each other.
“We still have a lot of training to do between 8:30am and 3pm. Those training courses are necessary and important. I do not think the ban will impact our plan to carry out stricter security measures,” an officer from the Air Force Command Headquarters said on condition of anonymity.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
GREAT POWER COMPETITION: Beijing views its military cooperation with Russia as a means to push back against the joint power of the US and its allies, an expert said A recent Sino-Russian joint air patrol conducted over the waters off Alaska was designed to counter the US military in the Pacific and demonstrated improved interoperability between Beijing’s and Moscow’s forces, a national security expert said. National Defense University associate professor Chen Yu-chen (陳育正) made the comment in an article published on Wednesday on the Web site of the Journal of the Chinese Communist Studies Institute. China and Russia sent four strategic bombers to patrol the waters of the northern Pacific and Bering Strait near Alaska in late June, one month after the two nations sent a combined flotilla of four warships
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
EVERYONE’S ISSUE: Kim said that during a visit to Taiwan, she asked what would happen if China attacked, and was told that the global economy would shut down Taiwan is critical to the global economy, and its defense is a “here and now” issue, US Representative Young Kim said during a roundtable talk on Taiwan-US relations on Friday. Kim, who serves on the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, held a roundtable talk titled “Global Ties, Local Impact: Why Taiwan Matters for California,” at Santiago Canyon College in Orange County, California. “Despite its small size and long distance from us, Taiwan’s cultural and economic importance is felt across our communities,” Kim said during her opening remarks. Stanford University researcher and lecturer Lanhee Chen (陳仁宜), lawyer Lin Ching-chi