With the rising threat from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) — including incursions by its air force across the median line of the Taiwan Strait and military drills in Taiwan’s southwestern and southeastern air defense identification zones day and night — tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the wider region are dangerously high.
To enhance the air defense capabilities of pilots, the Republic of China Air Force said that it would resume late-night flight training from 11pm to early morning.
Night-flight capability is a key indicator to determine whether an air force possesses round-the-clock preparedness.
The pressure on Taiwan’s air force will only increase now that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) said it would increase its national defense budget in the annual “two sessions” gathering of the Chinese government.
The CCP’s national defense budget is about the equivalent of NT$7.32 trillion (US$231.26 billion), about 12 times what Taiwan spends.
To tackle the imbalanced situation, Taiwan’s military should bolster its training programs, not engage in an arms race.
Instrument flight rules (IFR), where pilots rely solely on flight deck instruments, are one of the most important parts of night training.
Based on data from instruments, pilots can ascertain crucial information such as altitude, conditions outside the aircraft and changes in topography.
Moreover, night-time IFR training can reduce the possibility of accidents caused by spatial disorientation — the inability to determine position or relative motion.
The three main kinds of fighter jets Taiwan deploys are equipped with complete night-time flight instruments.
The nation’s air force has also intensified late-night training in F-16 jets and other aircraft after upgrading their equipment and purchasing new items.
In the face of the CCP’s threat, pragmatically making decisions for military personnel is an important part of preparation. Although night flights might bother nearby residents, people should view national security as a priority and support the military.
Ray Song is a doctoral student at Tamkang University’s Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies.
Translated by Chien Yan-ru
As Taiwan’s domestic political crisis deepens, the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have proposed gutting the country’s national spending, with steep cuts to the critical foreign and defense ministries. While the blue-white coalition alleges that it is merely responding to voters’ concerns about corruption and mismanagement, of which there certainly has been plenty under Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and KMT-led governments, the rationales for their proposed spending cuts lay bare the incoherent foreign policy of the KMT-led coalition. Introduced on the eve of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the KMT’s proposed budget is a terrible opening
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
“I compare the Communist Party to my mother,” sings a student at a boarding school in a Tibetan region of China’s Qinghai province. “If faith has a color,” others at a different school sing, “it would surely be Chinese red.” In a major story for the New York Times this month, Chris Buckley wrote about the forced placement of hundreds of thousands of Tibetan children in boarding schools, where many suffer physical and psychological abuse. Separating these children from their families, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to substitute itself for their parents and for their religion. Buckley’s reporting is
Last week, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), together holding more than half of the legislative seats, cut about NT$94 billion (US$2.85 billion) from the yearly budget. The cuts include 60 percent of the government’s advertising budget, 10 percent of administrative expenses, 3 percent of the military budget, and 60 percent of the international travel, overseas education and training allowances. In addition, the two parties have proposed freezing the budgets of many ministries and departments, including NT$1.8 billion from the Ministry of National Defense’s Indigenous Defense Submarine program — 90 percent of the program’s proposed
RSS