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Military plans new northern base for joint training drills

The Minister of National Defense is planning an enlarged training base for armored units in the Hsinchu area to strengthen defenses in the greater Taipei area and test cooperation between the air, ground and marine forces, according to a senior military officer.

The officer added that some beach areas will also be marked as restricted zones for joint military training, starting in 2006.

The scope of the new joint military training base will be wide, and will start as a training base for armored units in Hsinfeng Township, extending eastward as far as the Hsinchu "Doraimon" amusement park, the Taiwan Strait on the west and Nan-liao bathing beach in the south.

"This will become the nation's key region for operating military forces in the north and south, and a fortress for defending Taiwan," the official said.

The officer indicated that after the new northern training base is launched, it will be used for important drills such as the Marines' amphibious warfare exercises, the air force's anti-air-raid exercise and cooperative military exhibitions. This will mean that the annual Han Kuang military drill will no longer be restricted to southern Taiwan.

The assignment of beach areas as shooting zones within the "restricted zone," may be a sticking point. Ecological experts have expressed concern that the survival of rare plants may be threatened due to environmental damage.

"We are worried that once the defense ministry takes control of the entire Hsinchu coastal region, environmental protection groups will launch serious protests," the official said.

The new base will expand the military's ability to conduct joint exercises. Currently only one large military base, Hen-chun, Pingtung County in southern Taiwan can be used for combined-forces military training.

According to the military's plan, areas surrounding and inside the Hsinchu Keng-zi entrance armored training ground will be purchased or levied soon.

"A budget of NT$3.8 billion has been allocated to solve the issue of land usage," the official said.

The military estimates that as early as mid-2006, the new cooperative military training base will be launched.
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