The military yesterday simulated an invasion by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on the first day of the annual five-day live-fire phase of the Han Kuang military exercises.
The Ministry of National Defense’s Joint Operations Command Center, also known as the Hengshan Command Center, ordered F-16V jets from Hualien Air Force Base to conduct emergency takeoffs in batches from 5:30am yesterday to defend the airspace along the east coast.
Some fighter jets based in western Taiwan were dispatched to Hualien as part of a simulation in which most of the nation’s military bases in the west were “destroyed.”
Photo: Yu Tai-lang, Taipei Times
C-130 transport aircraft were used to take military personnel responsible for fighter jet maintenance, together with equipment and supplies, to designated locations in eastern Taiwan.
Naval vessels also set sail and troops practiced defense tactics as if they were being attacked by enemy planes or missiles.
The tabletop drills for the 38th edition of the Han Kuang exercises were carried out from May 16 to May 20, while the live-fire exercises are to conclude on Friday.
The live-fire exercises are divided into three parts — the military is to practice conserving its forces and air defense over the first two days, joint interception on the third day and joint territory defense on the last two days.
In related news, the Fisheries Agency posted a bulletin saying that the military and the Coast Guard Administration are to carry out a series of live-fire drills after the Han Kuang exercises are over.
Troops stationed in Penghu and Kinmen counties, and on Dongyin Island (東引) and the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) would conduct exercises next month and those stationed on Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) would do so in September, the bulletin said.
The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology canceled artillery tests in Taiwan’s southeastern sea and airspace on Wednesday and Thursday, but the artillery drill on Wednesday and Thursday next week would be carried out, it said.
The Army Matsu Defense Command would conduct exercises at night on Friday and Saturday next week, the Army Kinmen Defense Command would choose 11 days to conduct artillery exercises from Thursday next week to Aug. 31 and the Army Penghu Defense Command would carry out exercises in the Wude (五德) region on Aug. 24 and Aug. 25, it said.
The coast guard would be in charge of the artillery exercises on the Dongsha Islands on Saturday next week and Aug. 13, followed by the exercises on Taiping Island on Sept. 20 and Sept. 21, it said.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS