The Ministry of National Defense was in damage control mode yesterday after discovering that China had gained more data than originally thought on this year's main military exercises.
Vice Minister of National Defense Ko Cheng-heng (
Ko said he had read the data downloaded from the Internet and that "parts of it are accurate."
He said an investigation into the leak was underway and that the personnel responsible would be severely punished.
"The leaked information downloaded from the Internet contained accurate lists of the names and troops which would participate in the exercise, but the rest was inaccurate," Ko said.
Ko talked with reporters after briefing the legislature's National Defense Committee yesterday morning about a project to use military personnel to help dredge dams or rivers.
He said the new leak could be another case of officers taking their laptops home to do more work after hours and the classified information was inadvertently leaked.
The latest incident is the fourth time this year that information about the 23rd Han Kuang exercise was allegedly leaked.
Three weeks ago, an officer working at the National Defense University was accused of leaking classified information after he took his laptop home and the computer was hacked by an unidentified Chinese hacker and confidential information was stolen. The officer was one of the staff members responsible for programming the Han Kuang exercise.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily reported the latest alleged leak yesterday. The newspaper said information about the Han Kuang exercise could be easily located and downloaded from "Foxy," an information sharing platform.
The information included details of the exercise, names of military personnel, troop information, locations, dates and times.
The information said the exercise would be conducted from May 16 to May 18, while rehearsals would be held on May 9 and May 10. Details included the report that the Air Force would land a fighter loaded with AIM-120 missiles on the Huatan (花壇) emergency runway section of the Chungshan Freeway in Changhua County.
Meanwhile, Chiu Kuo-cheng, deputy chief of the general staff for operations and planning, has said the exercise would be based on a simulated scenario regarding the cross-strait military situation in 2010. In that scenario, Taiwan has to defend itself against a Chinese invasion launched after Taipei refuses to participate in unification talks, he said.
Taiwan's military capability would be the same as at present because of a lack of progress in arms procurement, he said.
Full-scale maneuvers would be held in Penghu, Hualien, Ilan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Changhua and Pingtung and some would be open to the public. Computerized war game simulations would be held over five consecutive days at all command centers, Chiu said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
RSS