The Ministry of National Defense pledged to continue its new policy of having high-ranking military officials go on TV talk shows to promote the military's NT$610 billion arms procurement project, saying this will help the public understand the military and not be misled by opposition politicians.
"We must act in accordance with public opinion and seek the public's support ourselves," said spokesman Major General Huang Suey-sheng (黃穗生) during the weekly ministry press conference on Tuesday.
"Many legislators have encour-aged us to maintain this policy and arrange for more generals to talk with the media," he said.
The ministry sent three outspoken generals to appear on a political talk show at state-run Chinese Television System on Aug. 22.
The trio discussed the military's strategy and capabilities for coping with a possible invasion by China
Lieutenant-General Chi Lin-lien (季麟連), director of the Office of Joint Operations, Training, Doctrine and Development, and Lieutenant General Lei Kuang-dan (雷光旦), commander of the 6th Field Corps, both said the military could withstand an attack for 150 days.
Some opposition lawmakers have accused the ministry of trying to launch a "media offensive."
Huang, however, said that the ministry's policy will continue, adding that some defense experts and "famous commentators" have made ambiguous or groundless remarks, misleading the public about military-related issues.
"The military must shed its mysterious image. It received a positive reaction from the public after our top-ranking generals explained their experience and training," he said.
Since the start of the new legislative session earlier this month, Minister of National Defense Li Chieh (李傑) has personally taken on the task of communicating with opposition legislators. He also approved of his staff's suggestion to arrange for more generals to appear on cable-TV talk shows.
"The people of this country are the real masters of the legislators. We think that the more efforts we make to win the people's trust and understanding, the more support we will gain in the Legislative Yuan," Huang said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS