The Ministry of National Defense (MND) has said that a live-fire drill conducted at a missile base in southern Taiwan on June 27 did not go entirely according to plan and that local fishermen protested against the exercises.
Video footage of the drill was only released online on Friday, because the ministry had imposed a media ban on coverage of the event and only permitted the armed forces’ own news agencies to cover the live-fire tests at the Jioupeng Military Base (九鵬基地) in Pingtung County.
According to reports by the Chinese-language Apple Daily, a military source said a US-made Harpoon anti-ship missile and a land-based Hsiung Feng II (“Brave Wind” II) anti-ship missile failed to hit their targets and plunged into the sea.
It is said to be the first time that Taiwan’s two main anti-ship missile systems failed in the same instance during a live-fire drill, according to the Apple Daily.
Developed by McDonnell Douglas, the Harpoon missile packs a 221kg warhead that can take out a destroyer and has an operational range of more than 124km, which makes it a key component of the nation’s air and sea defenses due to its destructive power.
The Hsiung Feng II missile was developed by the military-affiliated Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and can be deployed at land-based facilities or aboard ships.
The ministry released a statement on Monday in which it countered some of the claims made in the Apple Daily report, but did admit the failure of the Harpoon anti-ship missile on June 27.
It said that “a navy special project unit is conducting an investigation to determine the cause” of the failure.
The statement said the Hsiung Feng II was fired from a mobile missile launcher and it hit its intended target, in contradiction to the Apple Daily report.
It added that the live-fire drill involved all of the Republic of China’s armed forces and was a big success, because most of the other weapons systems tested, including eight Mark 82 (Mk82) bombs, had successfully reached their target zones.
However, some media organizations and netizens criticized the ministry for restricting news coverage of the drill, because the video footage released was edited, and was merely praising the virtues and trumpeting the success of the drill, without appraising it.
The ministry said that the media ban was instated because live-fire drills at the Jioupeng base had met increasingly vigorous protests by local fishermen and residents.
During the last two weeks of last month, fishermen in the Hengchung area in the vicinity of the Jioupeng base carried out several rounds of protests against military drills there.
Chung Yu-fang (鍾玉芳), secretary-general of the Hengchun Fishermen’s Association, said the munitions testing and drills have destroyed much of the natural marine habitats and fishing grounds.
“We have complained so many times over the years, but the military only said they heard our voice and did not change anything. Depletion of fish stocks and the marine habitat is very serious, so we will step up our protests this year,” Chung said.
On June 18, about 100 fishermen in more than 30 boats of various sizes positioned themselves in an offshore target zone close to the base to carry out a “naval blockade,” which prevented a scheduled live-fire drill from taking place that day.
An official in the ministry said the media’s presence would exacerbate the protests and it is doing its best to negotiate with the fishermen.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by