President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked pilots for their efforts to safeguard the country and pledged that the nation would build 11 1,000-tonne ships to bolster national security.
Lai for the first time as president visited officers at the air force’s Combat Command, and visited the navy’s Hai Feng Shore-Based Anti-ship Missile Group and the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) fleet branch office to thank members for their service.
The government would be the military and coast guard’s most trustworthy ally and bulwark, and would continue promoting defense reforms, he said.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Over the next seven years, the nation would receive up to 11 1,000-tonne ships, providing the military and the coast guard with better equipment to face any challenges and threats, he added.
At the Combat Command, Lai spoke with air force pilots while they were in the air, thanking them for their service.
He was connected by radio to what sounded like a fighter pilot who the president identified by their call sign, “Viper One,” a video released by the Presidential Office showed.
“Thank you for your hard work for our country. Please continue to guard the airspace of the Taiwan Strait to ensure national security, and have a safe and smooth flight,” Lai said, before adding in English: “Happy landing.”
In subsequent comments to personnel inside Combat Command, Lai praised their performance on Monday while China conducted military exercises.
“We were all on full alert during the Chinese exercises and did our best. The performance was outstanding. Thank you very much and please keep up the good work in our duty to protect and defend our country,” he said.
The president next visited the navy’s anti-ship missile group, sat in on a briefing and talked with navy personnel who were on duty on Monday about their experiences.
At the CGA’s branch office, he viewed a recording of how the coast guard mobilized 71 vessels to help the military monitor the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces on Monday.
Lai offered his thanks on behalf of the country to coast guard personnel who risked their lives to protect the nation’s maritime borders, for their dedication to safeguarding fishing rights and stopping smuggling and illegal entries, and for their humanitarian rescue efforts.
The president said he hoped that the coast guard and the military would continue to work together to safeguard national sovereignty, maintain the freedom to sail in international shipping lanes and protect fishing rights.
The PLA on Monday announced that it had launched military drills code-named Joint Sword-2024B, involving its army, navy, air force and rocket force, as well as the China Coast Guard in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan as a “stern warning to the separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces.”
The drills focused on sea-air combat-readiness patrols, joint seizure of comprehensive battlefield control, a blockade on key ports and areas, and an assault on maritime and ground targets, the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command said.
During the drills, Taiwan said it had detected 153 Chinese aircraft, the highest figure for a single day.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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