Deputy Defense Minister for Armament Affairs General Chen Chao-ming (陳肇敏) yesterday confirmed that the US military plans to send personnel to participate in this year's Hankuang No. 19, exercise but he denied that these personnel will be here mainly for the purpose of simulating evacuation of US citizens.
"It is not appropriate to categorize the US military personnel who are to come here for the Hankuang No. 19 exercise as an `evacuation team.' If we use the term, it might make people think that the US is preparing to abandon Taiwan," Chen said.
As to how the US military personnel are to be included in the Hankuang No. 19 exercise, Chen declined to comment.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
"We are still working on it. It is too early to discuss the details," he said.
At the same time, Chen said he would like to see Taiwan's military have more chances to participate in joint exercises with other countries.
"We hope to see this day come. It is our vision for the future," he said.
Chen made the remarks yesterday at a meeting of the legislature's defense committee as part of his response to inquiries from lawmakers over a report by a Chinese language newspaper that the US military is to send an "evacuation team" to Taiwan to simulate evacuation of US citizens in the upcoming exercise.
Chen acknowledged that some US military personnel will participate in the exercise but he denied that they would be called an "evacuation team" and agreed with some lawmakers who called the term "evacuation team" insulting to Taiwan's people.
Chen declined to say how the US military team is to be involved in the exercise, which is scheduled to be held in either April or May.
Chen did not specify which countries the military wishes to hold joint exercises with, but the US is believed to be one of the choices.
"It is too early to discuss the issue. It is very sensitive," Chen said. "Nevertheless, we will try not to be isolated. We should have more contacts with armed forces from other countries."
Chen said this vision was likely to be realized in the years to come since the military has already started working in that direction.
The military plans to start in 2006 holding joint exercises with a friendly country. Before that, a lot of preparation's have to be made, including turning all combat manuals into bilingual versions with Chinese and English placed side by side.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so
RSS