A US military transport plane made a brief stopover yesterday morning in Taipei, drawing media attention and no comment from the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A C-146A Wolfhound touched down at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) at 9:32am after flying from Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan, Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) reported.
Apart from regular landing procedures handled by the airport, the air force said that it had no contact with the aircraft.
Photo: Screen grab from Twitter
It was reportedly carrying a package for newly installed AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk, who is undergoing a 14-day quarantine after arriving in Taiwan on Monday, TVBS said.
Originally scheduled to stay for one hour, the plane departed 24 minutes early at 10:06am after delivering the package, it reported.
The US Air Force says that the C-146A Wolfhound is a modified version of the Dornier 328 commuter airliner used mostly to transport small teams and cargo for the US Special Operations Command.
Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesman Colonel Wu Qian (吳謙) expressed “grave concern” over the visit, saying that any foreign military aircraft landing on Chinese territory must be approved by the People’s Republic of China.
The US must cease playing with fire, as it would only draw Taiwan into a dangerous situation, Wu said in a statement on the ministry’s Web site.
“The Chinese People’s Liberation Army is on high alert and will take all necessary measures to resolutely crush any designs on ‘Taiwanese independence,’” he added.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) urged the US to abide by the Three Joint Communiques and stop further provocative action.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇), who serves on the legislature’s National Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee, confirmed the visit on Facebook, but declined to comment on its intent.
Regardless of what the aircraft came to do, its significance lies in the fact of its arrival, Wang said.
How the US interacts with Taiwan “is our business,” he said.
“No one else has the right to intervene,” Wang added.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique