The Ministry of National Defense yesterday denied that there were mass dismissals after reportedly classified images of a top-secret radar system were leaked to the military’s own Youth Daily News.
The online article published on March 26 — which has since been taken down — reported on the Navy 151st Amphibious Fleet’s mission to resupply Magong City (馬公) in Penghu County, and was purportedly written by a political warfare officer serving on the tank landing ship ROCNS Chung Ho.
While the article itself did not contain sensitive information, highly classified aspects of a mobile anti-stealth passive radar system designed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology were visible in two images used for the report.
Screen grab from the Youth Daily News Web site
First deployed in 2018, the radar system is reportedly capable of detecting the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) much-vaunted J-20 stealth fighter.
The images were republished on Monday last week by the English-language military aviation Web site Alert5 in an article titled “Taiwan Has Deployed Anti-Stealth Passive Radar System in Penghu.”
The Chinese-language Apple Daily reported that the ministry was unaware of the breach until US officials contacted Taipei via national security channels, while the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) said that some of the officials were with the American Institute in Taiwan.
The misstep angered Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正), the Apple Daily added.
Yesterday, Chiu had disciplinary investigations opened on as many as 100 officers of the Naval Fleet Command and the Political Warfare Bureau, which runs the Youth Daily News, the Apple Daily said, citing an anonymous source reported to be a general officer at the ministry.
More than 20 officers could receive reprimands or other disciplinary actions over the secrecy breach, it quoted the source as saying.
“An earthquake is coming to the ministry,” the source added.
“Operational security is a basic component of a soldier’s duty and the command has consistently demanded that each soldier be intimately familiar with operational security procedures and thoroughly implement them,” the Navy Command said in a statement.
An image of a mobile passive bistatic radar system was displayed at the 2013 Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition.
The display text provided by the institute said that the vehicle’s beamforming capabilities could act in combination with active radar or sources to detect aerial targets.
The long-distance system’s receivers use a different angle than active radar to detect a target and the absence of radar emissions helps it to evade countermeasures, the text said.
Citigroup Inc plans to exit retail banking in 13 markets across Asia, and the region of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The bank would instead operate its consumer-banking franchise in both regions from four wealth centers in Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and London, it said yesterday in a statement. The move is part of an ongoing review of the company’s strategy by chief executive officer Jane Fraser, who took over last month. “This positions us to capture the strong growth and attractive returns the wealth-management business offers through these important hubs,” Fraser said. Citigroup is to exit its consumer
‘IMPORTANT PARTNER’: The new guidelines aim to encourage US engagement with Taiwan, which reflects a deepening relationship, the US Department of State said The US Department of State on Friday issued new guidelines governing US officials’ interactions with their Taiwanese counterparts, a move welcomed by Taipei as turning a new page in bilateral relations. Shortly before leaving office, then-US secretary of state Mike Pompeo on Jan. 9 announced the cancelation of previous contact guidelines, which he said were “self-imposed restrictions” that attempted to appease the Chinese Communist Party regime in Beijing. However, the status of the guidelines has been unclear since US President Joe Biden entered the White House. Asked about the issue during a legislative session on Thursday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu
CONFIDENTIAL: The trip had not been made public until just before ex-senator Chris Dodd, and ex-state department officials Richard Armitage and James Steinberg arrived The government yesterday welcomed an “unofficial” delegation sent by US President Joe Biden, while another delegation led by US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry was headed to Shanghai. Biden’s first delegation to Taiwan is made up of former US senator Chris Dodd, and former US deputy secretaries of state Richard Armitage and James Steinberg. They are to stay in Taiwan until tomorrow. Their arrival, on a chartered flight, had been kept confidential until media reported the visit yesterday morning, after which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a short notice that they were expected to arrive at 2:40pm. The flight landed at
‘IDEAL FIT’: A report on Sunday said that the Canadian government threatened to pull its support and funding from the HFX if the award was given to the president The government would respect the decision of the organizer of the John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service on whether it plans to award a prize to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. The statement was issued after US Web site Politico reported a day earlier that the Canadian government had warned the Halifax International Security Forum (HFX) not to give the award to Tsai for fear of provoking Beijing. “The ministry believes that if the Halifax International Security Forum confers the prize upon President Tsai, it would be an affirmation and honor for both