The Ministry of National Defense yesterday expressed optimism after the US Senate Committee on Armed Services passed a provision that would re-establish regular visits by US Navy vessels to Kaohsiung or “other suitable ports” and allow the US Pacific Command to “receive ports of call by Taiwan.”
The committee on Thursday voted to allow the exchanges as part of next year’s National Defense Authorization Act, which is to be sent to the full Senate for consideration.
“The move shows that the US values military exchanges with Taiwan. The ministry welcomes any form of partnership that would enhance Taiwan’s national defense capabilities and bring stability to the region,” the ministry said in a statement.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan International Ports Corp (臺灣港務), which is in charge of operations at the nation’s seaports, said that the ministry has its own wharves at some ports.
Should military vessels from other nations need to make stops in Taiwan, they would have to contact the ministry for permission to dock at its wharves, the firm said, adding that military ships would not dock at wharves used by commercial vessels.
The ministry could request the company’s assistance if its wharves cannot accommodate larger warships, the firm added.
Keelung, Kaohsiung, Suao and Taichung ports have military facilities, the Maritime Ports Bureau said.
Bureau Deputy Director-General Lee Yun-wan (李雲萬), who was a student at National Taiwan Ocean University in Keelung when the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet would make ports of call there, said that he recalled seeing a small aircraft carrier enter Keelung Port, although the vessel did not dock.
Only Kaohsiung Port can accommodate large aircraft carriers, which could enter through the second port entrance, Lee said.
He added that Keelung, Kaohsiung, Suao and Taichung ports can accommodate 9,000-tonne guided missile destroyers, such as the USS Fitzgerald, which earlier this month was involved in a collision with the Philippine-flagged cargo container ship ACX Crystal in Tokyo Bay.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
RSS