The military is considering stationing a squadron of Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) jets at Penghu County’s Magong Airport for year-round patrol duty in light of China’s unilateral decision to open new commercial flight routes in the Taiwan Strait, a source said on Friday.
Strong northeasterly monsoon winds in the area during winter can create unfavorable conditions for light fighter planes, such as IDF jets, which is why the squadron is normally based in Penghu from April to October, said a senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Due to its proximity to the Chinese coast, the fighter squadron would be called on first if the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force were to make a sudden deployment, the official said.
Photo: Su Fang-ho, Taipei Times
A Republic of China Air Force officer familiar with combat readiness and the deployment of the nation’s air force to Penghu commented anonymously, saying that year-round deployment of IDF jets — the Hsiung Ying (雄鷹, or Goshawk) or C/D models — to Penghu is pending further assessments.
The squadron is to be temporarily deployed to Penghu, because route M503 near the median line of the Strait poses a potential threat to the nation’s air defense, but the ministry is still debating the feasibility of basing the squadron in Penghu, the official said.
The National Security Council on Friday held a meeting to discuss the effects of China’s decision to open route M503 and other connecting routes to northbound commercial flights.
The council concluded that the move contravenes the 2015 agreement between Taiwan and China that opened route M503 to southbound commercial traffic.
It has instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to seek the support of European nations and the US over the matter, while lodging a protest against China with the International Civil Aviation Organization, sources said.
The Ministry of National Defense was asked to offer viable reactionary measures to effectively strengthen aerial defenses over the Bashi Channel, the sources added.
The defense ministry would step up alert and information-gathering capabilities over the Strait, with any incursion of Chinese planes over the median line to be intercepted, warned and driven back over the line, the sources said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS