The armed forces began their annual Han Kuang military exercises (漢光演習) yesterday, drilling troops and weapons mobilization for counter-strikes in the event of an invasion by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Among the first day’s main activities was a live-fire drill by the big guns of the 21st Artillery Command of the Republic of China Army’s 6th Corps, which took place at the army’s Kengzikou (坑子口) target practice range in Hsinchu County.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) attended the event at the range to observe the firepower of the self-propelled M109 and M110 howitzers, where the troops drilled artillery strikes as part of an anti-amphibious-landing drill.
Photo courtesy of the Military News Agency
This week’s Han Kuang exercises last five days, with the Ministry of National Defense overseeing exercises at military installations and airbases across the nation, including on the nation’s outlying islands.
The National Security Council is also coordinating with the military to hold its two-day “Political-Military Exercise,” simulating cyberattacks against water and electricity facilities, and against central government ministries by China’s cyberwarfare units.
The National Security Council exercises train Web managers and digital security experts to respond to Chinese cyberattacks to get computer networks and Web sites back online.
Another main focus of the first day of the drills was protecting major weapons and maintaining the military’s fighting strength to mount counterattacks in the event of a first strike on Taiwan by the PLA.
Air force bases and radar stations in the west were mobilized for countermeasures, surveillance of enemy advancement and situation assessment, while fighter jets were flown to the mountain cavern aircraft hangars at Hualien County’s Jiashan Air Base.
Defense ministry officials said the military exercises include both active and reserve troops and are larger in scale than last year’s, with drills by the three main branches of the armed forces, and for the first time with the participation of the the Tuo Jiang (沱江) stealth missile corvette and the Panshih (磐石) supply vessel, weapon-carrying drones and US-made P-3C marine patrol aircraft.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to