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.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS