High-level Presidential Office staff were unhappy with leaks that led to reports President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) observed a missile exercise on Tuesday, sources said yesterday.
Citing a “reliable military source,” Chinese-language newspapers reported on Wednesday that a major missile exercise had been carried out on Tuesday at Jioupeng (九鵬) base in Pingtung County and that Ma had been among the observers.
The reports said the missiles tested included the Hsiung-Feng 2E (HF-2E), which has a range of around 600km and has not yet officially entered the military’s inventory.
Both the Presidential Office and the Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm or deny the reports on Wednesday.
Sources said yesterday that senior officials had ordered an investigation of the Presidential Office and the ministry to determine who leaked the information about the exercise and Ma’s attendance.
Sources said the timing of the leak was sensitive because the reported exercise came one day before the Mainland Affairs Council announced that Taichung had been selected as the venue for the fourth meeting between Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and president of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
The Chinese-language United Evening News, meanwhile, reported yesterday that the missile tests had not been a success.
The ministry, in keeping with its usual practice, declined to comment on the paper’s story.
In his annual presidential address on Double Ten National Day, Ma said Taiwan would “never ignore the other side’s military threat despite significant improvements in cross-strait ties.”
China celebrated 60 years of Chinese Communist Party rule on Oct. 1 with a parade in Tiananmen Square that spotlighted its high-tech weapons, including intercontinental ballistic missiles.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
RSS