Some debris from a rocket that took off from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center landed in waters off the north coast of Taiwan yesterday morning, the Ministry of National Defense said.
The debris fell within the area where China’s Fujian Maritime Safety Administration on Thursday last week said “aeronautic activities” would be held, the ministry said.
Due to the rocket launch, the Fujian agency banned ships from entering the area from 9am to 3pm yesterday, while China’s Civil Aviation Administration prohibited civil aircraft from entering the airspace around the area from 9:30am to 9:57am.
Photo: AP
“We were able to monitor the rocket launch using our military’s intelligence and surveillance systems. Some debris from the rocket fell into the waters that China had warned about last week and did not affect our homeland security,” the ministry said.
Aircraft operating in the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR), and ships navigating the waters off the north coast were safely guided by the Civil Aeronautics Administration and Maritime and Port Bureau respectively, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said.
The Maritime and Port Bureau continued monitoring shipping routes until 5pm yesterday, the transport ministry said.
Between 9am and 10am, about 33 flights in the Taipei FIR were affected by China’s launch: 14 departing flights, 11 arriving flights and eight transit flights, Civil Aeronautics Administration data showed.
On average, each flight reported a delay of about five to 10 minutes, as they were instructed to take an alternative route, the aviation agency said.
Air traffic controllers in Taiwan and Japan coordinated in advance to ensure that flights would operate safely, smoothly and in an orderly manner, it said.
The rocket was reported to have been carrying the Fengyun-3 07, a Chinese-made meteorological satellite, national security officials said.
Institute for National Defense and Security Research research fellow Shen Ming-shih (沈明室) yesterday said that the launch might be part of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to develop a fractional orbital bombardment system (FOBS).
“Through the launch, they might gain an understanding of the parameters and prepare for a launch of the FOBS,” he said. “We should observe if a military vessel was dispatched to fetch the rocket debris, or if the launch was held following the military exercises around Taiwan to amplify cognitive warfare” against the nation.
Institute research fellow Shu Hsiao-huang (舒孝煌) said the CCP claimed that it had launched a meteorological satellite to monitor heavy rainfall in regions of low-to-middle latitudes and prevent damage caused by natural disasters.
“Judging from the way that the CCP set up the no-fly zone for the rocket launch, it might start using the same tactic more frequently to disrupt Taiwan’s civil aviation services. Relevant government agencies should formulate countermeasures in advance,” Shu said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
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.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
RSS