A senior military official yesterday denied a media report that the navy would dispatch a fleet to protect Taiwan’s long-line fishing boats off the coast of Somalia by the end of this month, but said the navy was capable and had prepared for such a mission.
Deputy Minister of National Defense Chao Shih-chang (趙世璋) made the remarks at a joint committee meeting at the legislature.
TV station TVBS reported yesterday that following attacks on Taiwanese long-line fishing vessels by pirates, the National Security Council (NSC) had coordinated with the Ministry of National Defense to dispatch a fleet to protect Taiwan’s fishing boats in the Indian Ocean off Somalia by the end of this month.
The TVBS report added that a couple of Lafayette-class warships and a Wu Yi-class fleet oiler would head to the Indian Ocean, and that a Cheng Kung-class guided-missile frigate could also join the fleet.
Asked to comment by legislators across party lines, Chao said the report was not correct.
“The military has the capability and has prepared to carry out such a mission, but the military follows the government’s policy and needs to listen to opinions from the NSC and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Chao said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) told the meeting that unlike most merchant vessels sailing fixed routes, fishing vessels moved with groups of fish, therefore guarding fishing boats could be difficult.
Lin asked what the navy would do if countries without diplomatic relations with Taiwan agreed to allow Taiwanese vessels to resupply at their ports, but asked that they lower their national and ship flags while doing so.
Lin said there were questions as to whether returning ships could be replaced by another fleet to ensure year-long protection.
Taiwanese fishing boats were attacked by pirates in 2007 and again in April 2009, when two fishing boats were hijacked.
In October last year, another fishing boat was seized off the coast of Somalia.
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
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
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
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS