The Ministry of National Defense (MND) will hold the 21st Han Kuang military exercise at Chingchuankang (清泉崗) air force base in Taichung on July 27. The ministry requested all air travellers in the area to reschedule their flights because all air traffic in Taichung will be prohibited during the exercise.
According to the MND, the air traffic ban will be effective between 9:20am and 11am. The Taichung Airport, which is also part of the Chingchunkang air force base, will be temporarily closed and flights will be rescheduled as well.
"The Han Kuang military exercise is an annual drill which includes the air force, the army and the navy. The MND apologizes to the public in advance regarding the potential inconveniences the exercise may cause," a press release issued by the ministry on Monday said.
The 21st Han Kuang military exercise was originally scheduled to be held today, but was postponed due to Typhoon Haitung, which hit the nation on Sunday. According to the MND, the focus of this year's drill will be to defend against Chinese commando units. Taiwanese airborne troops will act as the enemy force, and infantry on the ground will be responsible for "destroying" them during the exercise. The drill is also meant to gauge how fast and how well the military could repel an invasion by the People's Liberation Army.
The MND also said that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) will arrive at Chingchuankang to observe the one-day training drill. The entire exercise will last for two months.
The overall goal of the annual exercise is to prepare the military for a worst-case scenario, where the nation's communication systems, airports and harbors have been destroyed, political leaders assassinated and the presidential plane hijacked.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard