Taiwan intends to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercise, but the biggest obstacle has been an objection raised by China, Ministry of National Defense officials said.
“We have sought such opportunities and have expressed our willingness to take part in RIMPAC, which is the largest naval exercise in the Pacific Ocean and is hosted by the US,” Deputy Minister of National Defense Admiral Chen Yung-kang (陳永康) said when he tabled a report at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.
Chen also said talks are under way between the navy and its US counterpart on the use of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES).
After establishing CUES protocol based on international radio signal communication procedures, Chen said that Taiwan’s “navy could then have the opportunity to go on toward the next step of participating in joint multinational naval exercises.”
Designed to reduce uncertainty and facilitate communication, CUES works to ensure safe and professional interactions on the high seas. The framework is also a tool for sea services to better promote international cooperation and transparency between the armed forces of different nations.
“Japan, South Korea, the Philippines — and China as well — each of them first agreed upon CUES with the US, then followed up with joint military exercises and further cooperation between the US and their armed forces,” Chen said.
“We were not able to do so in the past because of objections raised by China, but our armed forces are seeking to take part in bilateral or multilateral military exercises, and we will not give up. It is up to the host country. If they invite us, then we will participate,” he added.
Meanwhile, ministry officials yesterday confirmed that the military plans for the first time to dispatch Lockheed P-3C Orion marine patrol aircraft on surveillance missions to the South China Sea in the near future.
The ministry’s budget report sent to the legislature said that the military has taken delivery of eight US-made P-3Cs and another four are to be delivered by the end of this year.
The aircraft are mainly engaged in marine reconnaissance and joint surveillance in Taiwan’s surrounding waters and its air defense identification zone, the report said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the