The Control Yuan yesterday issued corrective measures against the Ministry of National Defense for a 2016 missile blunder, and exhorted the Executive Yuan to review communication channels between the executive and national security branches.
The corrective measures came after the Control Yuan’s vote last month to impeach nine 131st Squadron navy officers in relation to a missile misfire in 2016, including squadron commander Rear Admiral Hu Chih-cheng (胡志政).
On July 1, 2016, second-class petty officer Kao Chia-chun (高嘉駿) accidentally launched a live Hsiung Feng III missile on Chinchiang-class corvette Jin Jiang in a pre-exercise warm-up. The missile ripped through a Kaohsiung-registered fishing vessel, killing the boat’s captain, Huang Wen-chung (黃文忠), and injuring three crew.
The crew of the Jin Jiang had not registered taking plugs from the armory, made wrong assumptions about when plugs should be connected to live missiles and left a junior officer unattended in the launch control room, the Control Yuan said.
A plug is a device that connects a wire used to send a launch order.
The crew showed disregard for regulations, as plugs should be kept in the armory, but often the captain or chief weapons officer were entrusted with plugs, the Control Yuan said, adding that on many occasions the removal of the plug from the armory was unregistered.
The 131st Squadron’s application to attend A-level exercises directly contravened Regulations on Holding A-level Exercises for Naval Ships, Reconnaissance and Missile Troops (海軍艦艇及監偵飛彈部隊甲操測考實施計畫), the Control Yuan said.
The application to attend the exercises was not reviewed by the 131st Squadron and further paperwork confusion saw the Naval Education, Training and Doctrine Development Command approve the ship’s exercise participation, despite Naval Fleet Command previously disqualifying the Jin Jiang, indicating severe negligence in review and assessment processes, the Control Yuan said.
The navy’s assessment of ships equipped with Hsiung Feng III missiles is incorrect, leading to false assumptions about a ship’s combat readiness, which is the goal of A-level exercises, the Control Yuan said.
Naval Fleet Command has not established a procedure for exercises involving Hsiung Feng III missiles or operational guidelines for Chinchiang-class patrol vessels, causing confusion among personnel participating in the exercises, the Control Yuan said.
The defense ministry’s failure to immediately inform the Executive Yuan of the event heightened the risk of cross-strait military conflict, the Control Yuan said, exhorting the Executive Yuan to review the channels of communications — and if need be, regulations — between it and the ministry.
Lack of discipline, blatant disregard of safety regulations, breaching application procedures for A-level exercises and connecting plugs to live missiles all led to missile — intended for the defense of the nation — to be used on Taiwanese, the Control Yuan said.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
RSS