The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said it would allow people to visit and see Apache helicopters at the nation’s military bases during open house days or through group applications after a Facebook petition by 270,000 netizens.
“The ministry has always allowed public visits to our military bases on open house days, and during these visits, we also showcase our weaponry,” ministry spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) told a news conference yesterday afternoon.
“There will be a few camp visit events later this year, and we plan to showcase the Apache helicopters to those who might be interested,” he added.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
As for people who cannot make it on camp visit days, the ministry would allow visits organized by institutions and groups if they file applications for approval, he said.
However, the military bases would not accommodate individual requests, he said.
“If you are a commander of a military base, would you take individual visitors? Could you handle it if one visitor appears all of a sudden at 9am asking to visit, while another comes at 10am, or when one visitor arrives each minute?” Lo asked.
“If that is the case, it would be impossible to train the troops,” he said.
Lo was responding to reporters’ questions about a Facebook petition to visit the Apache helicopters, with more than 270,000 people signing up.
The petition follows Taoyuan prosecutors’ decision last week not to press charges against 15 military officers and civilians, including celebrity Janet Lee (李蒨蓉), who were given an unauthorized tour of a military base in Longtan District (龍潭), Taoyuan, by 601st Air Cavalry Brigade Lieutenant Colonel Lao Nai-cheng (勞乃成).
Prosecutors quoted the ministry as saying that the base is not designated as a fortress and therefore is not a restricted area as stipulated in the Vital Area Regulations (要塞堡壘地帶法).
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) earlier yesterday called on the ministry to respond to the online petition, while panning the ministry over its “double standards” in defining “restricted areas.”
“It is unacceptable for the public that army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘), an ordinary citizen performing compulsory military service, received severe punishment leading to his death for carrying a cellphone into [a military] camp,” DPP spokesperson Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) told a separate press conference.
“However, after high-ranking military officers gave tours on a military base and even allowed guests into the cockpit of an Apache helicopter, the ministry made an all-out effort to help them and even thanked the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office for not indicting them,” he said.
“The difference in treatment between an ordinary citizen and a high-ranking officer by the ministry is intolerable and seriously harms the image of the military, Huang said.
He said the ministry should explain its definition of a “fortress” and “restricted areas.”
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
When Paraguayan opposition lawmaker Leidy Galeano returned from an all-expenses-paid tour of six Chinese cities late last year, she was convinced Paraguay risked missing out on major economic gains by sticking with longtime ally Taipei over Beijing — a message that participants on the trip heard repeatedly from Chinese officials. “Everything I saw there, I wanted for my country,” said Galeano, a member of the newly-formed Yo Creo party whose senior figures have spoken favorably about China. This trip and others like it — which people familiar with the visits said were at the invitation of the Chinese consulate in Sao Paulo
RSS