Minister of National Defense Lee Tien-yu (
"We take all information leaks seriously. Those involved in this leak will be brought to justice," Lee said when fielding questions from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Lien-fu (
Chiang confronted Lee and Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Chiang said plans available online even included detailed information, such as the numbers of army unit personnel to be deployed in an attack scenario.
Lee said that missile range plans for every country are treated as "semi-public" information, adding that he could also find China's missile range chart on the Internet.
Chang said, however, that information on national defense must be confidential, adding that the information presented by Chiang on the deployment of armed forces was no exception.
The ministry was embarrassed last Tuesday after reporters from the Chinese-language Apple Daily published an article detailing their purchase of two bags of shredded paper from Chief of the General Staff Hou Shou-yeh's (霍守業) office for NT$40 at a recycling facility.
The reporters said they had deciphered information about the movement of Chinese and US armed forces as well as Taiwanese military drills from the papers.
Lee was angered by the leak to the Apple Daily, adding that the military needed to review its handling of confidential papers.
The ministry issued a press release after the report, saying that Hou's chief aide and the general staff's confidential secretary had been punished by being transferred to other positions, while Hou had been admonished.
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