The military yesterday carried out a nationwide air defense exercise to test its air warfare capabilities and military response time, following two training missions conducted by the Chinese air force involving aircraft circling Taiwanese airspace.
The routine exercise, code-named Lien Hsiang (聯翔), was held from 6am to 8am.
The navy deployed destroyers and frigates and the army mobilized missile defense units to conduct a joint anti-aircraft drill, while the air force sent up F-16 jets to act as an opposing force to test the air defense capabilities of the armed forces, media reports said.
Photo: CNA
Two F-16s based in Hualien, reportedly fitted with two fuel tanks to increase flight duration and range, were scrambled to conduct intercept training.
However, the Ministry of National Defense refused to comment on the reported operations or reveal what troops and weapons were deployed in the drill, saying only that different branches of the armed forces across the nation were activated.
The exercise had long been planned for yesterday as part of the military’s annual training schedule, and the operation was not related to recent Chinese military activities around Taiwanese airspace, Minister of National Defense Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) said during a budget review at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee.
Photo: Yu Tai-lang, Taipei Times
“The exercise is held once every season. The timing is purely coincidental and the drills do not have a specific target,” he said.
Chinese military aircraft flew over the Miyako Strait near Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture and circled outside Taiwan’s air defense identification zone twice in the past three weeks.
“The exercise was designed to familiarize the troops with combat skills. It was also aimed at reassuring the public that the military is combat ready and that fighter jets are engaged in ongoing exercises throughout the year,” he said.
Ministry spokesman Major General Chen Chung-chi (陳中吉) said the seasonal exercise was planned months earlier and China showed no apparent reaction to the routine exercise.
Chen said the Executive Yuan has measures in place to tap a reserve fund for military purposes in response to a remark by US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Abraham Denmark that Taiwan’s defense budget is disproportionate to the military threat the nation is facing.
Meanwhile, Coast Guard Administration Director-General Lee Chung-wei (李仲威) said it is “possible” that Chinese navy ships might cruise around Taiwan’s maritime zones following the two training missions by the Chinese air force.
In the event of Chinese naval vessels entering waters within 12 nautical miles (22km) of Taiwan’s maritime territory, the agency would ensure public security in this area, and if a hostile situation arises, relevant mission adjustments would be made, Lee said during a budget review at a meeting of the the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee.
In a wartime scenario, the coast guard would be under the command of the defense ministry and would undertake missions under its direction, Lee said.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
PRECISION STRIKES: The most significant reason to deploy HIMARS to outlying islands is to establish a ‘dead zone’ that the PLA would not dare enter, a source said A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) would be deployed to Penghu County and Dongyin Island (東引) in Lienchiang County (Matsu) to force the Chinese military to retreat at least 100km from the coastline, a military source said yesterday. Taiwan has been procuring HIMARS and Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) from the US in batches. Once all batches have been delivered, Taiwan would possess 111 HIMARS units and 504 ATACMS, which have a range of 300km. Considering that “offense is the best defense,” the military plans to forward-deploy the systems to outlying islands such as Penghu and Dongyin so that
‘CLEAR MESSAGE’: The bill would set up an interagency ‘tiger team’ to review sanctions tools and other economic options to help deter any Chinese aggression toward Taiwan US Representative Young Kim has introduced a bill to deter Chinese aggression against Taiwan, calling for an interagency “tiger team” to preplan coordinated sanctions and economic measures in response to possible Chinese military or political action against Taiwan. “[Chinese President] Xi Jinping [習近平] has directed the People’s Liberation Army to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. China has a plan. America should have one too,” Kim said in a news release on Thursday last week. She introduced the “Deter PRC [People’s Republic of China] aggression against Taiwan act” to “ensure the US has a coordinated sanctions strategy ready should
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS