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.
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