The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said that 70 people in the military are married to Chinese nationals, but added that not all of them are in sensitive positions, as local Chinese-language media have reported.
The ministry made the remarks in response to a media report that cited statistics provided to lawmakers from the ministry as showing that there are at least 70 military staffers working in sensitive units who have Chinese spouses, the highest-ranking being a colonel in the Armaments Bureau.
Twelve of them are in the army, 14 in the navy, 12 in the air force, two in the reserve command, three in military police units, 20 in the Armaments Bureau and seven in subordinate units of the ministry, the report said, adding that the spouses have all obtained Republic of China citizenship.
The report mentioned a case last year in which an air force pilot surnamed Hsiao (蕭) was given a demerit and was suspended from his position for dating a Chinese reporter stationed in Taiwan without reporting the relationship to his unit.
The ministry yesterday said in a press statement that of the 70 military personnel who have Chinese spouses, only one or two work in sensitive units.
The ministry said that since it abandoned a military personnel marriage regulation in 2005, military personnel no longer have to report their relationships to their units or seek approval for marriages.
In military personnel records, military staff register their spouse’s name, birth and job title, but not nationality.
However, the ministry added that if military personnel work in sensitive units or if their work concerns confidential information, the military would check on their marital status and prevent those with Chinese spouses from obtaining confidential information.
It added that in line with regulations, military personnel who have contact with Chinese nationals should report any relationship on their own initiative, because they could be punished if the relationship is discovered.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
PLANE HIT: The Israeli military said it shot down an Iranian Air Force fighter over Tehran, while an Iranian warship sank off Sri Lanka, with no cause known The US and Israel yesterday hit Iran’s capital and other cities in multiple airstrikes on the fifth day of the war with Iran. Israel targeted the Iranian leadership and security forces, while the Islamic Republic responded with missile barrages and drone attacks on Israel, and across the region. Tehran residents woke to dawn blasts and Iranian state television showed the ruins of building in the center of the capital. The Shiite seminary city of Qom and multiple other cities were also targeted. With fighter jets roaring overhead, those still in Tehran looked anxiously to the skies. One man, who ran a clothing shop,
RSS