Minister of National Defense Wu Shih-wen (
"On May 19, there was indeed a large ship entering the Taiwan Strait. We are not sure whether it was a warship. But it was definitely not a merchant ship," Wu said.
"Our naval monitoring system detected the ship shortly after it came into the Strait. The ship moved southward along the middle line of the Strait. We don't know whether it was a US warship," Wu said.
"Even if the ship was from the US navy, its navigation through the Strait fell within the internationally-accepted `innocent passage.' The ship also stayed in open seas throughout its course through the Strait," Wu said.
Wu made the remarks in response to inquiries from legislators yesterday as he visited the legislative caucuses of different parties on his first day in office.
Quoting a report by the local United Daily News, the lawmakers expressed strong interest in knowing whether the passage of the suspected US warship was meant to ensure peace in the Taiwan Strait during the presidential inauguration period.
The legislators also asked Wu about the reported sighting of three Chinese warships off the island's east coast just one day before the suspected US warship was detected in the Strait.
Wu declined to comment on the motives behind the passage of the suspected US warship through the Strait, saying it was quite normal for naval vessels of various countries to pass through the Strait on the basis of "innocent passage."
As to the rumored sighting of Chinese warships off the eastern coast, Wu said the naval authorities could not find any evidence to confirm the reports.
According to the newspaper report, the ship passing through the Strait was an AEGIS destroyer of the US Seventh Fleet, based in the Pacific.
It quoted unidentified naval officials as saying that the dispatch of the AEGIS ship to the Strait during the sensitive inauguration period carried the same message as the deployment of the battleship Bunker Hill, also an AEGIS ship, to the Strait during the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis.
A defense official, who declined to be identified, said the US warship may have entered the Strait only because the weather conditions at the time were better than off the island's east coast.
US warships usually choose routes off Taiwan's east coast if they are destined toward points south or north of Taiwan, the official said. An international passage through Strait waters by a US ship is a strong indication of US support for Taiwan, the official added.
Passages through the Strait are not uncommon, with around one out of every 10 US warships sailing through the Strait if their destination is a point beyond Taiwan, the official said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique