China sent a surveillance ship and spy aircraft to waters and airspace near Taiwan’s to gather intelligence last week during missile and air defense drills at a military base in Pingtung County, Ministry of National Defense (MND) officials confirmed yesterday.
The officials said the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) used electronic surveillance to track missile testing at the highly restricted Jioupeng Military Base (九鵬基地) in southern Taiwan.
It came in the wake of reports that Chinese visitors were spying and taking photographs near the nation’s military bases and other sensitive facilities, some of whom were known to be PLA officers and agents posing as tourists.
The ministry monitored the Chinese ship and aircraft as they approached the nation during the two-day missile tests, it said in a statement yesterday.
“Our armed forces were fully aware of their activity and implemented countersurveillance and security measures,” the statement said. “We have surveillance systems for effective monitoring of the nation’s surrounding airspace and waters, and have contingency plans for the protection and security of our nation.”
The ministry was responding to a report published yesterday by the Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) saying that the encroachment by Chinese spy vessels took place when Jioupeng Military Base was test-firing US-made MIM-104C (PAC-2) Patriot missiles on Wednesday and Thursday last week.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien , Taipei Times
Quoting a source in the military, the report said a Chinese surveillance ship was picked up on radar on Wednesday morning about 60 nautical miles (111km) to the east of the base, which is in Pingtung’s mountainous region facing the Pacific Ocean.
On the next morning at the same time — when the Patriot missile system was scheduled for test firing — the radar station detected a Chinese spyplane approaching Taiwanese airspace.
After each detection, military officials immediately suspended the launch and shut down the system to prevent the Chinese vessels gathering intelligence, said the military source, who requested anonymity.
Photo: Hsu Shao-hsuan, Taipei Times
Ministry spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) confirmed the radar detections last week.
“Our armed forces reacted quickly with effective countermeasures and suspended the missile tests at those times, which prevented the Chinese PLA surveillance vessels from achieving their intelligence-gathering goals,” Lo said.
The military was holding live-fire and air defense exercises with its combined forces at the base in the final two weeks of last month, starting with tests of Taiwan’s domestic Tien Kung I (Sky Bow I, 天弓) and other short-range, surface-to-air missiles on May 21 and 22, officials said.
These drills were followed in the subsequent week by air defense drills and the test launches of Tien Chien II (天劍 Sky Sword II), Patriot PAC-2 and other guided surface-to-air missiles, they added.
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,
RSS