The military’s counterterrorism squad, known as the “Night Hawk” (夜鷹特勤隊) unit, received top billing in a new publicity video commissioned by the Ministry of National Defense, which was released yesterday.
In an action-packed video, the Night Hawk unit is called to deal with an emergency when a gang of armed criminals take passengers on a 747 civilian jet airliner hostage on an airport runway.
While storming the plane, the crack unit display their skills with coordinated maneuvers, quick and decisive moves, and expert marksmanship to save the passengers’ lives.
The new release was one of a three-part video series for the ministry directed by filmmaker Hung Cheng-chang (洪成昌), who directed last year’s military promotional videos featuring troops doing their daily duties to safeguard the nation and its citizens around the clock.
Real soldiers from the Night Hawk unit, officially known as MPSSC (Military Police Special Services Company), play themselves in the video, and the scene was shot on site at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Hung said.
“Each of the three new videos are about 90 seconds long. I wanted to produce them in the style of a trailer for an action movie, about what happens when a group of terrorists hijack a civilian airplane. We showed how the Night Hawk unit — the nation’s special counterterrorism and hostage-rescue unit — can carry out their job to protect our citizens from such dangers,” he said.
In the video, the commando operation also involves the unit’s snipers, who are stationed at airport facilities, and at critical moments shoot and kill the criminals from some distance away to neutralize the threat and defuse the crisis.
Hung said he wanted to show military troops in a positive light because they rarely get the credit they deserve, and that he tried hard to incorporate fresh ideas and new elements into the videos.
“I wanted to have the Night Hawk unit in an actual operation scenario and doing their job. My notion is to present their combat skills and their professionalism, because these sides are seldom shown to the general public,” he said.
The other two new videos will be released for public viewing in the coming weeks, with the next video focusing on all branches of the armed forces in action during live-fire military drills, while the third one will involve special operations units undertaking a stealth assault operation to blow up a radar station inside enemy territory.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all