More than 50 percent of military personnel believe there is going to be war between Taiwan and China -- numbers the Ministry of National Defense's General Political Warfare Bureau said yesterday were a good sign.
"It shows that most of our personnel have not forgotten they face an enemy that needs to be dealt with. They would be ready for combat on the shortest possible notice," said Lieutenant General Chen Kuo-hsiang (陳國祥), director-general of the bureau.
Chen made his remarks during a meeting at the legislature's National Defense Committee yesterday morning.
Unveiling the results of a survey conducted earlier this year, the bureau said that 50.3 percent of military personnel who participated in the annual Han Kuang military exercise believed there will be a war between Taiwan and China sometime in the near future.
Chen said the questionnaire was given to 3,010 soldiers who participated in the exercise following an "intensive mental training course."
He refused to give any details about the course.
"I can only say that based on the results, we have achieved what we set out to do," Chen said.
"Reminding our soldiers of the existing threat and making sure everything is on track is in line with our goals. Obviously, the exercise and training were a success," he said.
In addition to believing that war was imminent, 85.6 percent of respondents said they were always conscious of the possibility of information leaks or Chinese espionage occurring while they were on duty.
Chen said the course was designed to help soldiers realize that Beijing is relentless in its military threat against Taiwan.
"In addition to the constant reminder, the results also showed that 85.7 percent of our military personnel would do whatever it takes to perform their jobs under any circumstances," Chen said.
This is a good sign," he said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS