Minister of National Defense Yen Ming (嚴明) yesterday assured the public that troops and military installations on Taiwan’s military outpost on Itu Aba (Taiping Island, 太平島) are not currently under threat from Vietnam.
Yen said that the latest intelligence reports indicated that Vietnam’s did not deploy shoulder-fired missiles on its possession of Sand Cay — known as Dunqian Sand Island (敦謙沙洲) in Chinese and Son Ca Island to the Vietnamese — which lies only 11km east of Itu Aba.
Responding to lawmakers’ questions yesterday, Yen said that intelligence reports pointed to Vietnam enhancing its weapons, including portable missiles, to bolster its military installations in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
“However, information indicated that Vietnam has not yet deployed shoulder-fired missiles on Dunqian Sand Island, so there is no threat to our C-130 military transport planes and supply ships on their regular runs to and from Taiping Island,” he said.
Deputy Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said Vietnam’s new portable missiles are the Russian-made SA-16 and SA-18, which are shoulder-fired, infrared-homing surface-to-air missiles. Chiu also said the reports indicated that Vietnam has two 20mm artillery pieces on Sand Cay, which have a range of about 2km.
“The maximum range for SA-16 and SA-18 missiles is 5.5km. Therefore, their portable missiles and artillery guns do not yet pose a threat to Taiping Island and our C-130 transport planes,” he added.
The responses by Yen and Chiu contradicted a report by Ministry of National Defense to the Control Yuan, which warned of a serious threat in the Spratly Islands region due to Vietnam’s recent deployment of shoulder-fired missiles.
Vietnam has undertaken land reclamation to artificially expand the island and begun construction projects to build up military installations to beef up its presence in the area, the ministry’s report said.
ADEQUATE COVERAGE: New Taipei City, which has more than 9,500 people under home quarantine, said it would add another 450 rooms at its disease prevention hotels The Taipei City Government has added a fourth designated disease prevention hotel, allowing people under 14-day home quarantine to isolate themselves from NT$5,000 per day, it said yesterday. The Taipei Department of Information and Tourism launched the first disease prevention hotel on Feb. 21 to accommodate travelers without a place to stay during mandatory home isolation or quarantine, and for people who want to separate themselves from their family members or roommates during quarantine. The department said that as of yesterday, more than 120 travelers have stayed at one of the city’s three disease prevention hotels, and their 178 rooms are nearly
MISINFORMATION: The 100,000 masks given to ally Paraguay were bought in other Latin American nations, not made in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan has not yet reached a point where it can export masks to diplomatic allies amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, dismissing as misinformation online reports that it gave away masks to curry favor with a diplomatic ally. “Taiwan provides med-ical aid to diplomatic allies based upon specific circumstances,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said, adding that the supplements donated by Taiwan were all purchased locally in allied countries, in accordance with their needs. “The time is not yet ripe” for Taiwan to export medical supplies, such as surgical masks, to diplomatic allies, until
An improvised protective device for use when intubating patients designed by Taiwanese doctor Lai Hsien-yung (賴賢勇) is being adopted in the Philippines to help doctors there stay safe amid the worsening COVID-19 pandemic. “We made this acrylic aerosol box for my sister Dra. Frances Legaspi for Antipolo Doctors Hospital. Credits to Dr Lai Hsien-yung for the concept and design,” Anton Legaspi, whose family owns a business that makes customized designs, said on Facebook on Monday. The hospital is in Antipolo, about 25km east of Manila. Legaspi’s post was accompanied by several photographs of the box and a short demonstration video
All state-run columbariums must strictly regulate how many visitors they host during Tomb Sweeping Day on Saturday next week to curb the spread of COVID-19, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday. Hou asked people to use online worshipping services instead. Electronic “tomb sweeping” systems, which display a virtual altar for people to make offerings and say prayers, can reduce crowd sizes at columbariums, Hou said during a site visit to Shulin Life Memorial Hall (樹林生命紀念館), a columbarium in the city’s Shulin Disrict (樹林). Measures for admission control would be strictly implemented in state-run columbariums, Hou said, pointing to the Shulin
RSS