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.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique