President William Lai (賴清德) thanked fighter pilots who scrambled to face Chinese planes last week during People’s Liberation Army military drills conducted around Taiwan, as he was briefed on the events at a frontline air base yesterday.
China on Thursday last week undertook two days of drills, which Taiwan condemned, in what it called “punishment” for Lai’s inauguration speech on Monday last week.
China says Lai is a “separatist” and has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
Lai rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwanese can decide their future.
Visiting the east coast air base of Hualien, which is home to Taiwan’s most advanced fighter jets, the F-16Vs, Lai had lunch with some of the pilots who scrambled during the drills.
He toasted the troops for their hard work “in response to China’s military exercises” — his first direct reference to the war games on Thursday and Friday.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tong, EPA-EFE
“Let’s work together and continue to work hard to make our country safer,” he said.
“I would like to thank all brothers and sisters for sticking to their posts and protecting national security,” he added. “In recent days in response to the Chinese military exercises, everyone did a good job.”
Lai said he received a detailed briefing on the pilots’ response and the abilities of their fighter planes.
“Everyone is on standby 24 hours a day to perform air patrol missions... All brothers and sisters use their firm determination and outstanding combat skills to demonstrate their air combat capabilities and protect our airspace,” he added.
He gave the soldiers a “red envelope” — a tradition during holidays — as a token of appreciation and took group photos with the troops.
Lai also watched artillerymen demonstrate loading and discharging a howitzer.
Some hangars at the Hualien base are cut out of the side of a mountain to protect them from air attack.
Taiwan has been converting 141 of its existing Lockheed Martin Corp F-16A/B jets to F-16Vs, and has also ordered 66 new F-16Vs with upgraded avionics, weapons and radar systems to improve its ability to face the Chinese air force, including its J-20 stealth fighters.
The F-16Vs can also carry Raytheon Technologies Corp’s advanced AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.
The Ministry of National Defense said three Chinese warplanes, and 11 naval and coastguard ships were detected in Taiwan’s air defense identification zone the past 24 hours — down from the 21 aircraft and 15 ships it reported on Monday.
Experts say these are “gray zone tactics,” which stop short of outright acts of war, but serve to exhaust the military.
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,”
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
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.
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