The military yesterday confirmed media reports that multiple weather balloons used by the Chinese military passed over the country shortly after the Lunar New Year holiday, but said the balloons posed no security threat and were being used for meteorological observations.
“The air force has full understanding of the [balloons’] movements. It is believed they were being be used for meteorological observations,” Ministry of National Defense (MND) spokesman Major General Shih Shun-wen (史順文) said.
Shih’s comments came after Chinese-language United Daily News on Saturday reported that an unspecified number of weather balloons in four groups were released from China’s Fujian Province by a long-range rocket unit of an artillery brigade from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) 72nd Group Army.
Photo: Aaron Tu, Taipei Times
The balloons were detected by air force radar at altitudes from 2,743m to 3,048m above Keelung, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, shortly after the Lunar New Year holiday period, the report said.
The weather balloons raised concerns amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and following President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) request for the armed forces to remain on high alert, it said.
Even if the balloons were being used for military purposes, they were likely analyzing atmospheric density for the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command and pose no immediate security threat, Institute for National Defense and Security Research analyst Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said yesterday.
Meanwhile, the MND yesterday posted a video on Facebook to show that the armed forces have increased patrols and strengthened combat preparedness to deter China from attacking Taiwan.
“The military has continued to step up surveillance as it remains alert and closely observes military activities across the Taiwan Strait. We are determined and capable of defending the country,” the ministry said in the video.
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
FLU CONTINUES: Hospitals reported 101,091 visits for flu-like illnesses last week, while 68 severe cases and 16 flu-related deaths were also reported, the CDC said The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported 932 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and 64 related deaths for last week, adding that the number of people who had contracted new SARS-CoV-2 subvariants KP.2 and LB.1 has increased. The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 increased from 815 in the previous week to 932 last week, while 90 percent of the 64 deceased were aged 65 or older, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. JN.1 was still the dominant variant among local and imported cases in the past four weeks, while KP.2 was the second-most common, Lin said. Cases with the LB.1 subvariant