A Taiwanese navy frigate and coast guard vessels that have been dispatched to help search for a missing Malaysia Airlines plane can dock at Malaysian ports to refuel and take on supplies, Foreign Minister David Lin (林永樂) said yesterday.
“We have reached an agreement with the Malaysian government that our frigate and vessels can dock in Malaysia if needed,” Lin told lawmakers at a hearing of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
Taiwan and Malaysia do not have formal diplomatic relations, which could create diplomatic issues over Taiwanese military vessels docking in Malaysian ports.
Lin was responding to questions from lawmaker Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), who said the frigate and the coast guard vessels have enough supplies on board for 14 days at sea.
The ships will take about four days to reach the search area, which is more than 1,000 nautical miles (1,852km) from Taiwan, and four days to return, leaving only six days for them to search, Lin Yu-fang said.
In response, the foreign minister said Taiwan and Malaysia have reached an agreement to allow Taiwanese ships to dock at harbors in Malaysia.
On Monday, a Chengkung-class navy frigate and two coast guard patrol vessels were dispatched to join international efforts to look for the plane that disappeared in the early hours of Saturday. The ships are expected to reach the search area tomorrow.
Over the past two days, two C-130 transport planes have been dispatched to the South China Sea by the air force to help look for the missing aircraft.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared from radar screens in the early hours of March 8 as it was flying over the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam about an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur on a flight to Beijing.
It was carrying 227 passengers — including Taiwanese national Chuang Hsiu-ling (莊秀玲) — and 12 flight crew members.
As of yesterday at press time, no debris from the plane had been discovered, leaving investigators perplexed and without any clues to determine what might have happened to the plane.
A total of 12 countries, including Taiwan, have joined the mission to search for the missing airliner.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS