The unexpected landing of two F/A-18 jets belonging to US Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323 has prompted much discussion and response in public and political circles, with some people suggesting the US government is sending Taiwan a message.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) said that the jets landing at Tainan Air Force Base showed the ongoing cooperation between the two countries.
“It also indicated that Taiwan is an important ally in the US’ ‘First Island Chain’ defense. As a message for China, it signals the US’ continual support for the Taiwan military’s arms upgrading program,” Chiu said.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), a member of the legislative Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, said the incident holds an important symbolic meaning: “The US still regards Taiwan as one of its strategic military partners. I hope our government can seize on this opportunity to enhance the bilateral relationship.”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said the F/A-18 Hornets chose to land in Tainan because Taiwan is a US ally and there was no fear of the jets being detained — as happened in China following a collision between US and Chinese aircraft over Hainan Island in 2001.
“This is the first time that advanced US fighter jets have landed in Taiwan. It shows that the US has trust in Taiwan and that a good relationship exists between the two countries,” Lin said.
News reports of the incident attracted many military buffs to the vicinity of the Tainan Air Force Base, with many using long-lens cameras to catch a glimpse of the F/A-18 Hornets.
There were also enthusiastic discussions online by Taiwanese netizens. Most held positive views of the incident, while some said it meant to rebuke the administration of Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) pro-China policies.
“The US sees that Ma was catering to China on the M503 flight route issue, so they dispatched two Hornet jets here to assert American military presence in this region,” a commentator named Yu wrote.
“It was staged to remind both sides of the Taiwan Strait that the US is still the big boss in Asia-Pacific,” another netizen named Chang wrote.
Officials and netizens also pointed out that Wednesday’s incident was the first time in 28 years that US fighter jets had landed at an airport in Taiwan.
US military analyst Rick Fisher was quoted in the Washington Times as saying it appears that the Pentagon is sending a political message to China.
“The ‘emergency’ landing for two F/A-18 fighters [sic] at an air base in Taiwan, while perhaps unintended, does give China a significant signal of US resolve, two days after China used its new H-6K nuclear cruise missile bomber in exercises intended to signal a threat to US forces on Guam,” he said.
The coast guard drove away 567 Chinese boats and seized seven illegally operating in Taiwanese waters in the first six months of this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. They mostly operated near Kinmen and Penghu counties, resulting in fines totaling NT$1.7 million (US$52,440), it said. Three ships — two near Kinmen County and one near Penghu County — were detained in January for illegally crossing the border, while one ship each was detained near Kinmen in February and Penghu in March respectively, it said. The ship seized near Penghu in January was the Yun Ao (雲澳), detained by the CGA’s
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
Military photovoltaic projects have been found to have used Chinese-made devices blacklisted by the government, including Huawei Technologies Co routers, the Ministry of National Defense’s Armaments Bureau said on Thursday. An ongoing investigation has identified the illegal use of 128 current transformers, two routers and a data reader at the Hungchailin Army Base, Pinghai Navy Base and Tri-Service General Hospital’s Songshan branch, it said. The devices were manufactured in the Chinese factories of German solar energy equipment supplier SMA Solar Technology, Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Delta Electronics Co, Chinese electronics manufacturer Huawei and Taiwanese industrial PC maker Advantech Co, the bureau said. The bureau’s
FLU CONTINUES: Hospitals reported 101,091 visits for flu-like illnesses last week, while 68 severe cases and 16 flu-related deaths were also reported, the CDC said The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported 932 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and 64 related deaths for last week, adding that the number of people who had contracted new SARS-CoV-2 subvariants KP.2 and LB.1 has increased. The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 increased from 815 in the previous week to 932 last week, while 90 percent of the 64 deceased were aged 65 or older, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. JN.1 was still the dominant variant among local and imported cases in the past four weeks, while KP.2 was the second-most common, Lin said. Cases with the LB.1 subvariant