The military is to be on high alert around the Jan. 13 elections to prepare for any activity by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
From 5pm on Jan. 12 to 8am on Jan. 14, all branches of the military are to be on high alert while maintaining regular operations, Office of Operations and Planning Deputy Head Colonel Lo Yung-chang (羅永昶) told foreign media following a regular briefing at the ministry in Taipei.
During this period, the military is to maintain close contact with joint intelligence offices to keep an eye on PLA movements, Lo said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
Regardless of whether it utilizes “gray zone” tactics or more overt aggression, the military would handle it flexibly and in accordance with regulations, he said.
Meanwhile, the ministry yesterday said that another Chinese balloon crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the fifth this month.
The military is to “handle” Chinese balloons flying nearby based on threat assessments, although officials believe the current wave is for weather purposes, driven by the prevailing winds, the ministry said.
From October to March, Chinese balloons are more regularly spotted due to the winds at that time of year, ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) said.
“Generally speaking, most of the ones we have spotted so far are weather balloons,” he said. “They are from China, and not necessarily from the PLA.”
The ministry would say if the balloons are for surveillance purposes, but it is so far not possible to judge whether the balloons seen are related to the elections, he said.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
RSS