President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has detailed the arsenal of Chinese missiles targeting Taiwan in his latest move to build a case for a contentious sovereignty vote next year.
Chen said late Sunday it was the first time he had specified the location of bases within 600km holding 496 ballistic missiles pointed at Taiwan. The move is likely to inflame already tense relations with Beijing.
His latest comments, at an election rally, have already prompted criticism from the opposition camp, which claimed he had leaked military secrets.
His speech is seen as part of a plan to rally support for a referendum on unspecified sovereignty issues to run alongside the presidential elections on March 20.
Beijing and Chen's political opponents claimed they had dealt the president a telling blow at a legislative vote last week when they effectively blocked his plans for a series of referendums.
However, Chen has tried to cite a clause in the new law that allows him to stage a ballot on "issues of national security concern" in the event of a foreign threat. Over the weekend, he sought to depict China as a clear and present danger to the nation.
Pinpointing the numbers of missiles, Chen said China had deployed 96 missiles each in Leping and Ganxian of Jiangxi Province, Meizhou of Guangdong Province, as well as 144 in Yongan and 64 in Xianyou of Fujian Province.
"And they often held war games threatening to attack Taiwan ... this is the ongoing threat toward Taiwan," Chen said while addressing a group of supporters.
Chen said he could not work out why Taiwan had to accept an imposed political design of "one country, two systems" or face an invasion.
However People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (
"I have never seen a `big mouth' president like Chen. He did this only to fan the sentiment of his supporters," Lin said, adding that Chen's remarks might reveal the source of Taiwan's military information.
Asked by Lin if Chen had broken the nation's intelligence law by disclosing information about China's missile deployment at a Legislative Yuan committee meeting, Vice Defense Minister Lin Chong-pin (林中斌) said the president is the armed forces' top commander. According to the basic operation rules of democracy, Lin said, the military is not in a position to comment on any of the president's statements.
Commenting on Lin Yu-fan's criticism, James Huang (
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
RSS