For the first time in many years, the US Marine Corps last September accepted visitors from its Taiwan counterpart to its headquarters near San Diego, marking a significant improvement in ties between the two sides, defense sources said yesterday.
Over ten officers of the marine corps, from different fields of speciality, visited the US Marine Corps' headquarters for more than a week. They were mostly majors and lieutenant colonels.
During the visit, they saw quite a number of hardware that the US Marine Corps had never before discussed with the Taiwan military.
These included a mobile airport whose runway and control tower could be assembled within a short time on a flat surface.
A defense official said the mobile airport design is quite suitable to Taiwanese conditions and that the US Marine Corps might be trying to promote the product to the country.
"The US marine corps' first-ever opening of its headquarters to Taiwan military personnel is significant not just because of the introduction of new products. It is also a sign that the marines of the two nations are moving toward greater cooperation and exchange," the official said.
"In a few years' time, Taiwan will hold coalition exercises with the US. The marine corps will be the first in the military to participate in the exercises and is already preparing for it," he said.
"This is the reason why it sent officers from different speciality fields on the visit last September," he said.
The marines had close contacts with its US counterpart before the severing of diplomatic ties in 1979.
After that, the marine corps became gradually isolated, having no opportunity to exchange experience with counterparts in other countries.
The situation improved in recent years, especially after George W. Bush became the US president over two years ago.
The marine corps not only increased contact with the headquarters of its US counterpart -- it also escaped a proposed downsizing because of help from the US Marine Corps.
According to original plans by the Ministry of National Defense, the marine corps would be cut by half by personnel streamlining efforts starting next year.
The army played a major role in shaping the plans. Its leaders argued that the marine corps's role and function could be taken over by the army.
As the marine corps had no one to speak for them in the country, a delegation from its US counterpart came to their rescue last August.
The US delegation, tasked with the mission of assessing the combat strength of the local marines, gave them very high marks. This humiliated army leaders who strongly promoted the downsizing of the corps, analysts said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
RSS