Vice Minister of National Defense Huo Shou-yeh (
Huo made the remark when asked by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ting Shou-chung (
In the past, the ministry said the military would protect the Republic of China (ROC) and would fight for its survival. Yesterday was the first time it said the military would fight to protect Taiwan.
Ting told Huo that, according a report on Taiwan's security published by the RAND Corp, the increase of independence-related divisions in Taiwan in recent years has been taken into consideration by China in its military policy toward Taiwan. Ting then asked how the ministry would deal with the political divisions in Taiwan, and whether the military would fight for the country if a war was caused by Taiwan's independence movement.
"The issues regarding Taiwan's independence are internal political issues which should be resolved politically, and the military should be neutral. However, the military is responsible for defending against external military threats, and it will fight any invasion of Taiwan, regardless of what the cause for the invasion is," Huo said.
Meanwhile, Huo yesterday announced that the Han Kuang No. 21 computer war games will take place next week, and that Chief of the General Staff Admiral Li Tien-yu (
Asked by several legislators to comment on recent military exchanges between Taiwan and the US or Japan, Hou said the military welcomed the announcement by the US and Japan that the Taiwan Strait was a common security concern, and also that he would like to see the two countries' intervene in the Taiwan Strait should any military crisis occur.
But although a Chinese-language newspaper said yesterday that Dennis Blair, a former commander of the US' Pacific Command, would lead the US delegation to observe the exercises in Taipei, Hou declined to comment on who will lead the US team and how many US personnel will be in Taipei.
He said the US had provided its evaluation of last year's computer war games, and the military has addressed the shortcomings the US had identified, particularly regarding the military's joint operations capabilities.
Chinese-language newspapers have said the nation's military is preparing to conduct joint computer war games with the US and Japan, and that the military will link up with the US military's Pacific headquarters in Hawaii for the first time.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary