Chinese military exercises earlier this week were aimed at threatening Taiwan ahead of today’s presidential inauguration, Ministry of National Defense officials told legislators yesterday, adding that the armed forces are ready to defend the nation.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator (DPP) Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) questioned the ministry’s response on Tuesday, when it said that war games conducted by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) 31st Group Army based in Fujian Province were “routine exercises, which are conducted annually.”
The ministry is “fully aware of it and is constantly monitoring it,” it added.
Photo: CCTV via AP Video
Not satisfied with the response, DPP lawmakers questioned ministry officials at yesterday’s meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
“I do not believe it is merely a routine exercise by the PLA. They conducted large-scale war games with live-fire weapons and amphibious landings at a southeast coastal area near Taiwan,” Tsai said. “China is doing it this week and broadcasting it on state media for the world to see, just before our presidential inauguration ceremony. Is this routine or just a coincidence? I do not think so.”
Ministry officials said that the PLA war games were likely aimed at sending a political message to Taiwan and to put pressure on president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to acknowledge the “one China” principle and the so-called “1992 consensus” in her inaugural address.
Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Pei-shan (許培山) said China has persisted in its military threats and missile deployment against Taiwan, and has shown no signs of letting up.
Tsai Shih-ying asked the ministry if the nation’s troops are ready for the incoming administration and if they are prepared to defend Taiwan in case of war.
He added that there are rumors that some military officials and their units are troubled by the prospect of a female commander-in-chief and do not want to take orders from the new president.
Hsu said there is no such problem.
“The armed forces are loyal to our nation, no matter which political party holds power. We obey the laws of the nation and will serve the new president, who is the highest civilian leader of our country as elected by the people,” he said.
DPP legislators asked the ministry to use its internal media outlets to disseminate this message to all military troops pledging allegiance to the president and the nation.
Hsu and other defense officials said that after today’s inauguration, all photographs of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) would be taken down in military offices and replaced by photographs of Tsai Ying-wen over the next few days.
AGING: As of last month, people aged 65 or older accounted for 20.06 percent of the total population and the number of couples who got married fell by 18,685 from 2024 Taiwan has surpassed South Korea as the country least willing to have children, with an annual crude birthrate of 4.62 per 1,000 people, Ministry of the Interior data showed yesterday. The nation was previously ranked the second-lowest country in terms of total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime. However, South Korea’s fertility rate began to recover from 2023, with total fertility rate rising from 0.72 and estimated to reach 0.82 to 0.85 by last year, and the crude birthrate projected at 6.7 per 1,000 people. Japan’s crude birthrate was projected to fall below six,
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
US President Donald Trump in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday said that “it’s up to” Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be “very unhappy” with a change in the “status quo.” “He [Xi] considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing, but I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that. I hope he doesn’t do that,” Trump said. Trump made the comments in the context
SELF-DEFENSE: Tokyo has accelerated its spending goal and its defense minister said the nation needs to discuss whether it should develop nuclear-powered submarines China is ramping up objections to what it sees as Japan’s desire to acquire nuclear weapons, despite Tokyo’s longstanding renunciation of such arms, deepening another fissure in the two neighbors’ increasingly tense ties. In what appears to be a concerted effort, China’s foreign and defense ministries issued statements on Thursday condemning alleged remilitarism efforts by Tokyo. The remarks came as two of the country’s top think tanks jointly issued a 29-page report framing actions by “right-wing forces” in Japan as posing a “serious threat” to world peace. While that report did not define “right-wing forces,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was
RSS