A US CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter landed at Tainan Air Base at 2:25pm yesterday to join relief and reconstruction efforts in areas devastated by flooding and landslides caused by Typhoon Morakot.
The US military’s largest and heaviest chopper, capable of transporting a 16-tonne payload, is expected to begin helping with relief efforts today in mountainous areas that were cut off from the rest of the nation during the storm.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國), chief of the Central Emergency Operations Center (CEOC), said the helicopter was the first of four US military aircraft transported by the USS Denver — an amphibious transport dock ship — to waters near Taiwan.
PHOTO: PICHI CHUANG, REUTERS
From there, the other three choppers will also fly to Tainan Air Base to join Taiwanese operations.
The three other US military helicopters are another CH-53E and two SH-60s, or “Seahawks,” said Christopher Kavanagh, press officer of the American Institute in Taiwan.
“The four helicopters will return to the USS Denver at night after their daily work on the island,” Kavanagh said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Meanwhile, another US military C-130 transport plane landed at Tainan Air Force Base around noon yesterday with a cargo of about a half tonne of calcium hypochlorite tablets for water sanitization, said Hung Wen-cheng (洪文正), a spokesman for the air force base.
The tablets will be transferred to the Centers for Disease Control, Hung said.
A C-130 also arrived at Tainan Air Base on Sunday, delivering 120 rolls — or about 6,800kg — of plastic sheeting for building temporary shelters during the reconstruction process.
Deputy Chief of the General Staff Wu Ta-peng (吳達澎) confirmed yesterday that the Ministry of National Defense (MND) recalled the plastic sheeting when the material was being shipped to a military unit in Cishan Township (旗山) on Sunday night.
Wu said the sheeting was brought back to the MND’s Tainan base because the CEOC believed it was “improper” to store the material in Cishan Township, adding that the MND and the CEOC should be better coordinated in handling foreign aid.
Mao said the US donated the sheeting without the government requesting the material. He said the CEOC had yet to decide which government agency should be in charge of the sheeting, adding that the government had very limited experience using it.
Beijing also offered large helicopters used during last year’s earthquake in China, but Taiwan declined the offer because of national security concerns, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported, citing unnamed defense officials.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
RSS