The military’s sudden cancelation of a precision weapons strike exercise on Wednesday was a cautionary measure to prevent China from gathering intelligence about Taiwan’s missile capabilities, Minister of National Defense Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) said yesterday.
The live-fire exercise plan was to have a Patriot II surface-to-air missile intercept a locally developed Sky Bow II (天弓二型) missile, but it was called off after a Chinese coast guard ship was detected in international waters to the southeast of Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼).
Foreign and National Defense Committee legislators said that the ministry should come up with a solution rather than canceling exercises whenever Chinese ships or airplanes are in the region.
Photo: CNA
In response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ding-yu’s (王定宇) question on whether the ministry has alternative solutions when weapons containing sensitive information were to be used in an exercise, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Admiral Pu Tze-chun (蒲澤春) said that the ministry was still looking into such possibilities.
Wang asked if the ministry had considered cooperating with other nations due to the limited locations where Taiwan could test-fire missiles, to which Pu said such cooperation would be difficult.
The ministry is maintaining its stance of halting exercises in the event of suspected information gathering by other nations, but would continue to look for alternatives, he said.
However, Pu said the military’s radar coverage of the Taiwan Strait was excellent and could tell friend from foe.
He said the ministry only halted exercises when weapons of a sensitive nature, such as the Sky Bow II missiles, were used in exercises.
“Otherwise, we continue as usual,” Pu said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Yu-ling (呂玉玲) asked whether the appearance of the Chinese coast guard ship was uncommon.
Pu said it was, adding that “the ship should not have been where it was.”
However, it has become increasingly common for Beijing to dispatch coast guard vessels or aircraft geared for intelligence gathering when Taiwan is conducting military exercises, the ministry said.
The military detected a Chinese coast guard ship during the test-fire exercise of the Patriot II missile system in Pingtung in May last year, forcing it to terminate the exercise, the ministry said.
The military also discovered an unidentified aircraft west of the median line in the Taiwan Strait during the Han Kuang exercises in August, the ministry said.
The military kept close tabs on the plane and there were no “surprises,” the ministry said.
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