■ MILITARY
MND unveils ‘carrier killer’
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) has unveiled the first image of a high-tech missile corvette specifically designed to counter the potential threat posed by Chinese aircraft carriers, officials and media said yesterday. A computerized graphic of the 1,000 tonne “carrier killer,” which has so far been kept secret from the public, has gone on display at Taipei’s military museum. The vessel will be capable of cruising at speeds of up to 55kph and boasts technologies helping it to evade radar detection, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported, citing military officials. The navy hopes to arm the corvette with the home-grown Hsiung Feng III (“Brave Wind”) supersonic ship-to-ship missile, the report said. The military museum did not provide any details, while the defense ministry declined to comment on the report. Taiwanese military analysts expect China to need at least 10 years to build its first operational carrier group.
■ Diplomacy
Iran mulls Taipei Office
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said on Saturday the ministry was in the process of determining whether to grant a request from Iran to open an economic and trade office in Taipei amid international concerns over Iran’s nuclear program. The government-funded Taiwan External Trade Development Council’s office in Tehran informed the ministry that Iran wished to establish an office in Taipei, the ministry said. “We welcome all countries to set up economic and trade offices in Taiwan, but we still need to determine the nature of each request and its function,” said the official, who asked not the be named.
■ Entertainment
Police arrest Da Bing
Entertainer Da Bing (大炳) was arrested yesterday at his Sijhih (汐止) home for drug possession, the Taipei County Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Corp (CIC) said yesterday. Heroin and amphetamines were discovered at his residence when officers raided the house with a search warrant at about 4am, the CIC said in a press release. Officers followed a drug dealer to Da Bing’s home on Sunday night after receiving a tip-off, the CIC said. When police entered the apartment, they arrested five people. This was the third time the star was arrested for drug possession. He was arrested for amphetamine possession at Taipei’s Wego Motel in February 2007 for which he was sent on a 50-day rehabilitation program. In April last year, he was arrested for possession of amphetamines at Zhonghe’s Chingshan Motel. Taipei judges sentenced him to three months in jail, but his sentence was commuted to a fine of NT$92,000.
■ Nature
Team finishes mountain trek
Five members of the Taiwan Mountain Rescuers Association have become the first climbers to traverse the length of eastern Taiwan’s Coastal Mountain Range. “The 37-day expedition was a challenge because the pristine forest is thick with sturdy wild growth and full of venomous snakes, leeches, mosquitoes and yellow vines [Calamus Burret],” Ke Cheng-ming (柯正民), leader of the team, said at the end of the tough 170km trek on Sunday. Although the range is between 600m and 700m above sea level and its highest peak is just 1,682m, its rugged terrain makes it a difficult trek, Ke said. “Many of its ridge lines are formed by fault breccia; we had to brave strong winds to climb the steep cliffs. I have scaled the Central Mountain Range, Jade Mountain and Syueshan, but the Coastal Range was the most difficult,” Ke said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
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