Whether Taiwan is more like Israel or Panama in terms of its combat strength yesterday became a point of dispute between lawmakers and defense leaders at the legislature.
The argument stemmed from a report by the Washington Post on April 25, which quoted an anonymous US defense official as saying: "Before we came, we thought we'd find Israel; instead we found Panama."
Quoting the Washington Post report, opposition lawmaker Wang Tien-ging (
"We cannot say there is anything wrong with comparing Taiwan to Panama. But since the comparison is a criticism of Taiwan, we must humbly accept it and seek improvements in our combat strength," Wu said.
Lieutenant General Hu Cheng-pu (
"Whether Taiwan is Panama or not would have to be found out in a real war. The comparison of us to Israel or Panama is from the angle of the US. We can by no means accept the comparison of us to Panama," Hu said.
Meanwhile, Hu also answered inquiries from lawmaker Wang as to the result of the computer wargames portion of the recently ended Hankuang No. 17 exercise.
Quoting a report in a local newspaper, Wang said the result of computer wargames is that Taiwan's military, posing as the red army, lost to the invading Chinese military, posing as the blue army.
Hu refuted the media report as false, saying the wargames did not end with the red army losing and the blue army winning.
"There is no winner or loser in the game. The result of the game only shows how much damage each side has suffered. It will help us know what kind of weapons we still need for the defense of Taiwan," Hu said.
"What happens in the wargames is that we allow the invading Chinese military to move on and land on Taiwan despite the fact that 25 percent of its troops have been destroyed as they are crossing the Taiwan Strait," Hu said.
"Why we do so is because we always assume the enemy is stronger than it actually is. In a real war, the Chinese military will not be able to land on Taiwan if 25 percent of its forces are destroyed while crossing the Strait," he said.
Also answering this question, minister Wu said the purpose of computer wargames is to find out the mistakes troops might make in a real war.
"We launch computer wargames quite often. The mere result of a single game cannot be used to explain all," Wu said.
"Computer wargames are not enough for us. Sometimes we will hold real maneuvers of troops to test whether their results match those of the computer wargames," he said.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
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