The military will strengthen its air and sea patrols in the lead-up to Saturday's election while keeping a close eye on China's ballistic missile and submarine deployments, the Ministry of National Defense announced yesterday.
"The armed forces will stay on alert around the clock during the election period. This is aimed at providing a secure and stable environment for the public to cast their votes on the election day," ministry spokesman Major General Huang Suei-sheng (黃穗生) said at a weekly press conference yesterday.
"Election day has been declared a day for `focused alert.' Our focus on that day and days before will be on air and sea patrols. Check and identification of targets is to be one of the priority tasks," Huang said.
"There is no sign to show that the Chinese military has any unusual deployments across the Taiwan Strait. But we will keep a close watch on the Chinese military, especially its ballistic missile and submarine forces," he said.
"The ministry has already in place rapid-response plans for any unusual deployments of the ballistic missile and submarine forces of the Chinese military," he said.
Huang, however, played down the significance of a joint Sino-French military exercise held off the coast of Qingdao, Shandong Province, yesterday.
"Two French warships were at Qingdao between March 12 and March 16 for a visit. The two ships then participated in an exercise with the Chinese navy," Huang said.
"The exercise is on maritime search and rescue, falling into the category of humanitarian aid. It is a basic and entry-level maneuver," he said.
The arrival of the French warships in the region coincided with the presence of the USS Kitty Hawk in the waters between China and Taiwan earlier this month. The ministry has declined to comment on the motives behind the Kitty Hawk presence.
However, the aircraft carrier's presence carries strong indications that the US does not want to see any conflict break out between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait at this moment.
Huang confirmed media reports that the military police has already deployed the Avenger pedestal-mounted Stinger anti-aircraft missile in Taipei. The Stinger is among the best man-portable surface-to-air missile in the world.
"The deployment started in December. It was part of the normal arms build-up," Huang said, declining to connect it with the election.
Yesterday was the first time the ministry made public its security plans for the election and officials appeared confident of providing a secure environment for election day.
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
RSS