■ Cross-Strait Ties
Beijing criticizes Chen
China accused President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday of hoodwinking his people by offering to swap envoys with Beijing and shake hands with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) if he was re-elected. "What he said, I think, aims only to advance his decep-tion of public opinion and fool the people of Taiwan," Taiwan affairs spokesman
Li Weiyi (李維一) told a
news conference in Beijing. Li said that if Chen were serious about building ties, he would recognize that Taiwan was part of China.
"If Chen Shui-bian were
really sincere ... he would create conditions for the resumption of talks and negotiations across the Taiwan Strait," Li said. "Otherwise, he will once again be cheating the
people of Taiwan and inter-national opinion."
■ Government
Cabinet OKs new command
The Cabinet approved a set of draft bills and revisions yesterday to establish a
new airborne rescue com-mand. The Cabinet hopes that the legislature will approve the package by
the end of next year. At present there are five airborne rescue teams belonging to the National Fire Administration, the National Police Administra-tion, the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the Coast Guard Administration and the army. The new command will be under the Ministry
of the Interior. The com-mand center will be located at Taipei's Sungshan Airport, with secondary bases at Taichung County's Shuinan Airport, Pingtung Airport, Taitung Airport and Hualien Airport. Operations not related to air rescue efforts, such as transporting patients and air-traffic patrol, will be contracted out to the private sector. A preparatory office for the new command will be inaugurated on March 10.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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