The Taiwanese military is prepared for possible maneuvers by the China’s aircraft carrier group in the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday.
The group — composed of the Liaoning aircraft carrier and five escort vessels — is conducting exercises in the South China Sea, and might sail along the Taiwan Strait’s median line on its return to its home base in the northeastern Chinese port city of Qingdao.
The ministry has an uninterrupted communication channel with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in case the carrier group engages in maneuvers during the president’s nine-day visit to the nation’s Central American allies, which is to begin on Saturday, ministry spokesman Major General Chen Chung-chi (陳中吉) said.
Photo: Reuters
The armed forces have conducted drills during Han Kuang military exercises to simulate possible aircraft carrier maneuvers in the Strait, he added.
“We have [missiles] ready, but we cannot reveal the details,” Chen said in response to media reports that hundreds of missiles have been deployed on the west coast to prepare for the carrier’s passage.
Taiwan will seek alliances with other nations, military or otherwise, to ensure regional security and economic stability, Chen said about reports of a cooperation agreement between Taiwan, the US and Japan, which would allow the nations’ military aircraft to be identified as “friendly” on one another’s radar systems.
The armed forces would respond to Chinese military action in accordance with the ministry’s defense response procedures, should carrier-borne aircraft, such as Shenyang J-15 fighter aircraft, intrude into Taiwan’s airspace, Chen said.
The ministry has experience in monitoring the carrier’s activities and initiating appropriate responses, as the Liaoning cruised through the Taiwan Strait to conduct cross-sea training in 2014, Joint Intelligence Center Director Major General Wang Shao-hua (王紹華) said.
“[The military] has the ability to detect all activities of the carrier group,” Wang said.
The group sailed through waters east of Taiwan late last month — the first time it crossed the first island chain — and should the Liaoning cruise along the median line of the Taiwan Strait on its return voyage, it would be the first time that it had done so with aircraft onboard.
“The combat capabilities of the Liaoning are developing and further observations are needed to determine if it can function on par with its US counterparts,” Wang said.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
RSS