Taiwan is stepping up military cooperation with long-standing partners and forging new ties as it bolsters training exercises with the US Army Special Forces and trains officers and soldiers from an undisclosed Middle Eastern country, a high-ranking military official said yesterday.
The Republic of China Military Police Special Services Company, commonly called the Night Hawks, has standing collaborations with the US Army Special Forces, commonly known as the Green Berets, for regular joint exercises, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Taiwan and the US have increased the frequency of training and adapted course materials to meet the needs of the security situation in East Asia, the official added.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
One of the joint exercises added to the program last year involved observing Green Berets training in a simulated battle zone in Washington state, they said.
Through the training, the Night Hawk unit aimed to sharpen its knowledge of wartime military operations and boost the special operations capabilities of the Military Police Command.
The Night Hawks’ standing invitation to participate in the annual Pacific Area Special Operations Conference would expand its network, and help it look beyond Taiwan and regional concerns, the official added.
The source also said that Taiwan has reached an agreement with a Middle Eastern country to provide counterterrorism training to that nation’s officers and soldiers in Taiwan, without disclosing the country’s name.
The first group of trainees has completed their training and returned to their home country, but the second group’s arrival has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the source said.
The deal is a breakthrough for the command, they said, adding that high-ranking officers from both sides visited each nation last year.
The Ministry of National Defense is to schedule a visit to the Middle Eastern country and send a platoon of Night Hawks for training exercises once the pandemic eases, the source said.
Visits by high-ranking officers to Taiwan and the Middle Eastern country would likely be normalized in the future, the source added.
Taiwan’s special forces are respected internationally and are one of the few units in Asia that can train themselves and provide counterterrorism training to other nations, the source said.
Separately on Friday, the ministry said that a Chinese Y-8 military transport aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone while flying over waters southwest of the nation.
The intrusion occurred at about noon, the ministry said, adding that the aircraft left the area after being warned over radio by Taiwanese fighter jets.
It was the seventh time this year that Chinese military aircraft have been spotted flying near Taiwan.
Air activity over the waters surrounding Taiwan are being closely monitored by the military, the ministry said.
“At present, there is no cause for alarm,” it added.
Additional reporting by CNA
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to lead a delegation to China next month, saying she hopes to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and bring stability to the Taiwan Strait. “I am grateful and happy to accept this invitation,” Cheng said in a statement from the KMT chairperson’s office. Cheng said she hopes both sides can work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, enhance exchange and cooperation, bring stability to the Taiwan Strait and improve people’s livelihoods. At today's news conference, Cheng said any efforts to
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
RSS