In an unprecedented move, Taiwan's military yesterday opened two top secret Air Force bases for the first time to the media, removing the veil of secrecy that had shrouded the sites for years.
The two military sites are the Chiashan (
The two bases are the most important military locations on the island.
Chiashan serves as the command post of the country's last remaining counter-attack forces in the event of a war and Hengshan is the country's top military command center during both war and peace time.
The construction of the Chiashan base, which began in 1985, took seven years to complete and cost about NT$27.2 billion, officials at Chiashan said. Upon its completion, it was said to be the largest base of its kind in the Far East.
The construction of Chiashan included the hollowing out of a mountain to accommodate fighter planes and attack helicopters from around the country during times of war. The entire base is essentially a shelter for planes, including Mirage 2000-5s and US-made F-16s. The number of planes the site can accommodate at any one time, however, is still classified by the military for national security reasons.
During yesterday's media tour, two French-made Mirage 2000-5 jet fighters took off from exits in the hollowed-out mountain base, performing dry-runs of maneuvers that mimic real-life military confrontations.
The Hengshan Command Post was another ambitious project by the military. Construction began in 1960, 11 years after the KMT government established itself in Taiwan.
The project, which involved the excavation of a mountain in the Taipei suburb of Tachih, was not completed until 1982. It serves as the highest-level military command center in both war and peace as well as an operational center for the government during war.
It features a high-tech command center, which receives real-time information about enemy troop movements and can order immediate responses.
The military demonstrated real-time information it had obtained regarding the crossing of the median line of the Taiwan Strait by Chinese jet fighters on July 25 and July 30.
Officials at the center said they have taken appropriate measures to prepare for attacks from the mainland.
"The Chinese planes were spotted and tracked from take-off. Before the planes reached the middle of the Strait, our fighter planes and anti-aircraft missile sites were already on alert," an official said.
Chief of the General Staff Gen. Tang Yao-ming (
The base also provides space for major governmental agencies to operate in times of a war, including offices for the president and the Cabinet.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS