President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to inspect a MIM-104F (PAC-3) Patriot missile system at Taichung’s Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base during the 34th Han Kuang military exercises in June, a military official said yesterday.
The scale of the combat part of this year’s exercises, scheduled to begin on June 4, is to be larger than previous ones, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The military is to use the exercises to identify gaps in its defense capabilities and whether it has enough forces to respond if China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) sends its army, navy and air force to invade Taiwan, the source said.
What will be unique about this year’s Han Kuang exercises is that the military plans to allow Tsai to engage in a mobile inspection of the troops, the source said, adding that former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) had last conducted a mobile inspection of the navy while in office.
The president is scheduled to arrive at the air base on June 7 to inspect the army, navy, air force and reserve troops taking part in the exercises, the source said.
Tsai would be briefed on the troops’ tactical locations, including the site of missile systems, the source added.
One of the focuses of this year’s exercises would be subterfuge, the source said.
The military is to place inflatable fighter aircraft, tanks, missile vehicles, bases and other facilities at strategic locations to lure the PLA into attacking them to prevent important bases from being damaged, the source said.
Details of the Han Kuang drills come amid an increase in PLA Air Force and PLA Navy exercises near Taiwan, the source said.
The increasing number of PLA maneuvers and their quick succession not only increase the pressure on the nation to prepare for battle, but also increase the number of times the military’s fighters and other aircraft are deployed to monitor them, the source said.
The growing number of deployments and the rapid response needed is speeding up the wear and tear on equipment, increasing aircraft repair and maintenance costs and adding pressure on the military’s annual budget, the source said.
Last year, the military’s annual budget was unable to keep up with the increased frequency of the PLA’s long-distance military exercises, forcing the Ministry of National Defense to spend more than NT$590 million (US$20.1 million) from its reserve fund, the source added.
Given the number of extended exercises by the PLA so far this year, the ministry’s budget was likely to be strained again this year, the source said.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
RSS