Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) yesterday assured lawmakers across party lines that the military would be able to track Chinese missiles or satellite rockets in motion after the nation’s NT$30 billion (US$967.4 million) long-range early warning radar system is completed.
Kao made the remarks in response to questioning from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Liao Wan-ju (廖婉汝) on whether the Ministry of National Defense (MND) has the capability to monitor the trajectory of China’s missiles or satellite rockets.
Liao, head of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee, raised her concerns after the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) yesterday quoted National Space Organization Systems Engineering Director Chen Yen-sen (陳彥升) as saying that a fireball in the sky over eastern Taiwan about 7pm on Oct. 1 was the discarded second-stage rocket of China’s Chang’e 2 satellite.
Chen was quoted as saying that the trajectory of the rocket was similar to that of China’s missiles falling off the east coast during the Taiwan Strait Crisis between July 1995 and March 1996.
Kao said the rocket and the missiles had different heights and trajectories, adding that the National Science Council had dismissed Chen’s speculation as his personal opinion rather than an official statement by the council.
In another question-and-answer session, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) also grilled defense officials over the matter.
Lee accused the ministry of refusing to make public that a Chinese rocket flew dangerously close to a location where China once lobbed rockets near Taiwan.
Lee pressed Kao by questioning whether the ministry had protested to Beijing for allowing the rocket to fly over Taiwanese airspace.
“If not, does this mean that Taiwan’s satellites or missile tests can fly over China’s airspace?” Lee asked.
Kao did not answer, but told Lee that he would tell him in private after the open session.
Kao’s response, however, prompted further criticism from Lee, who called the defense minister “irresponsible.”
At a separate setting, ministry officials said that given that the trajectory of China’s satellite Chang’e 2 was hundreds of kilometers above the earth, it generally does not consider it an intrusion of airspace.
The ministry said it therefore dismissed the launch of Chang’e 2 as a concern for Taiwan’s national security or as an intrusion of the nation’s airspace.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY HSU SHAO-HSUAN AND VINCENT Y. CHAO
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