Three of Taiwan’s field army commands this month would each hold anti-landing drills on a beach in their jurisdiction, including two public beaches, the Fisheries Agency said in three notifications on May 23 and Monday last week.
The first drill would be held on Wednesday by the army’s Tainan-based Eighth Army Corps on a public beach in the Sishu Coastal Recreation Area, the agency said.
The Sixth Army Corps on June 18 would be training on Jhongfu Beach (中福海灘) in New Taipei City, while the 10th Army Corps would conduct a live-fire drill on June 26 at Taichung’s Caocuosi Beach (草厝溪海灘), the agency said.
Photo: Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Reuters
The military has been strengthening its defense protocols with weapons practices, wargames and live-fire drills conducted on the nation’s “red beaches.”
Beaches in Taiwan are categorized into three color codes: Red beaches could see large-scale landing operations and are the most vulnerable to a Chinese People’s Liberation Army invasion; yellow zones are beaches that could see unconventional landing operations; and blue beaches are locations that would be difficult to invade.
Anti-landing drills that involve shooting practices on beaches aim to familiarize soldiers with the environment of a potential battlefield, the military said.
Firing rounds on beaches differs from target practice in controlled environments, as environmental factors such as wind and sand can affect visibility and the functionality of weapons, the military said.
The military also increased the number of anti-landing drills on red beaches, such as in Tainan’s Sishu Coastal Recreation Area.
Because these areas are accessible to the public, the army had only conducted basic drills such as physical training and hardware construction before the first live-fire exercise in Taoyuan’s Guanyin Coastal Recreation Area, which was held at the end of last year.
The three red beaches selected for the anti-landing drills this month were also evaluated by analyst Ian M. Easton in his book The Chinese Invasion Threat: Taiwan’s Defense and American Strategy in Asia for their tactical relevance.
Sishu (喜樹) could be a target due to its closeness to important locations such as Taoyuan International Airport and Tainan Air Base, and infrastructure such as the Coastal Highway, Easton said.
Jhongfu Beach was mentioned for its proximity to Taoyuan International Airport and Linkou Power Plant, as well as Caocuosi Beach, as it is near Taichung International Airport, which is also an air base.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
‘POOP ON STAGE’: The song, which talks about the reluctance to graduate and anxiety about a lack of job opportunities, resonated with many students’ feelings The original song Poop on Stage has been chosen as National Taiwan University’s (NTU) graduation song this year, sparking much debate regarding the song’s title and content, which describes students’ anxiety about post-graduation unemployment. The title, Shang Tai Da Bian (上台大便), is a play on words that literally means “go on stage to poop.” The first three characters, shang tai da (上台大), also mean “to attend NTU,” as “Taida” is a common abbreviation for the university. The last character, bian (便), can mean “convenient” or “then,” but is more commonly associated with defecation. The lyrics of the song describe students’ reluctance to graduate and
RSS