Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Chu-lan (
Yeh made the confirmation in the legislature during interpellation by KMT lawmaker Chen Chin-pao (
"Has any of Taiwan's airlines reinstituted the practice of placing security officers aboard aircraft, since there is much information indicating that Taiwan is a possible terrorist target?" Chen asked as he inquired about Taiwan airlines' preparedness in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US.
Oliver Yu (
"Air marshals are being installed on flights on major international routes but they are probably unnecessary on domestic routes as Taiwan is not directly involved in the war against terrorists," Yu said.
The airlines confirmed air marshals are being deployed only on US- and Canada-bound flights.
Yu said, however, that the CAA has prohibited air marshals from carrying guns. "The officers can only carry stun weapons. As with the debate on flight safety in other countries, the CAA has to take into consideration the possibility that hijackers might rob the air marshals of their guns and that flying bullets can also damage aircraft, endangering flights."
The CAA said that the decision whether to deploy air marshals on flights was a matter purely for the airlines. "It involves budgetary and human resources concerns," Yu said.
Until 1993, the government required airlines to place security officers on flights out of concern that aircraft might be hijacked to China while cross-strait relations remained highly confrontational.
Since Oct. 1, about 90 CAL flight attendants who previously served as air marshals have resumed their former roles, said Paul Wang, the airline's spokesman. They were all members of military or police forces before joining the airline.
Flights carrying air marshals are equipped with the "necessary tools" to fight hijackers, Wang said.
Wang said extending the deployment of air marshals to flights on routes other than those to the US and Canada was currently impossible because of the lack of qualified personnel.
Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維), a spokesman for EVA Airways, confirmed that the airline began the deployment of air marshals on Canada- and US-bound flights in mid-September as a precaution against terrorist attacks.
Like Wang, he said that deploying air marshals on other routes was not possible because of the lack of qualified personnel.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session yesterday while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival- threatening
RSS