Taiwan is not going to take any action that could start a war with China, but it is also not going to back down from any threats, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said on Tuesday.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has never given up the idea of using force to resolve the Taiwan matter, ministry spokesman Major General Chen Chung-chi (陳中吉) said, commenting on a Chinese training mission that saw military aircraft flying close to Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
The ministry said a Chinese Xian H-6 bomber flew west of the median line of the Taiwan Strait from south to north early on Tuesday, apparently headed back to base after flight training.
It was the second time in 24 hours that Chinese bombers were spotted flying close to Taiwanese airspace, following the sighting on Monday of four Xian H-6 bombers.
The Miyako Strait, which lies between the Japanese islands of Miyako and Okinawa, is part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, but includes a narrow band of international waters and airspace.
The ministry has said that using routes along the western side of the median line of the Taiwan Strait or passing through the Miyako Strait south of Okinawa could become a regular part of the PLA’s long-distance sea training involving warships and aircraft.
The ministry on Friday last week released photographs showing two Chinese H-6K bombers, one of which was being tailed by an Indigenous Defense Fighter, in Taiwan’s air defense identification zone in the East China Sea.
All of the nation’s military intelligence units were mobilized to monitor the movements of the Chinese military over the past two weeks and they would continue to do so, Chen said on Tuesday.
If China’s military intrudes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone again, the nation would safeguard its airspace and marine areas based on its rules of engagement for emergency situations in wartime, Chen said.
Taiwan would neither act in a cowardly manner nor dodge any military threats, he 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
RSS