Any Chinese incursion into Taiwan’s airspace would be considered a “first strike,” Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said yesterday.
Chiu made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in Taipei.
The Ministry of National Defense has been taking such incursions more seriously, following a spate of close flights by Chinese warplanes and drones, Chiu said.
Photo: CNA
Asked whether the “first strike” definition would extend to any kind of Chinese aircraft, he said “yes,” without elaborating what the response would be.
“In the past, we said we will not be the first to strike, which meant we will not strike without them firing artillery shells or missiles, et cetera, first,” Chiu said. “But now the definition has obviously changed, as China has been using new equipment such as drones. So we have adjusted and will view any crossing of aircraft or vessels as a first strike.”
Beijing launched live-fire drills around Taiwan and fired ballistic missiles following a visit to Taipei by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The exercises show that Beijing seeks to unilaterally change the “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait, Chiu said, citing Chinese incursions beyond the median line of the Strait.
The tacit agreement between Taipei and Beijing regarding the median line has been undone forever, Chiu said.
The median line only existed because both sides tacitly agreed to its existence, but any such agreement has been unilaterally overturned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Chiu said in response to Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lo Chih-cheng’s (羅致政) question whether the line still exists.
However, the Taiwanese military still patrols and trains only east of the line, he added.
“This principle has not changed; we have not backed down from maintaining the line,” Chiu said, adding that the military would act if its “red lines” were crossed.
Asked whether Chiu agreed with the international media’s portrayal of the Chinese exercises as a semi-blockade of Taiwan, Chiu said that the drills were preparations for war, while a blockade is simply a phase of a war.
If the CCP persists with similar actions, they could be considered a blockade, Chiu said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said that the military should consider sending nationwide alerts when China fires missiles over Taiwan, as happened during the exercises in August.
Chiang said that Japan on Tuesday issued alerts to residents of Hokkaido and Aomori prefectures, urging them to seek shelter after North Korea launched a ballistic missile that flew over Japan before falling into the Pacific Ocean.
Chiu said each nation has different ways of handling such incidents and that he would not comment on Japan’s methods, adding that the ministry could consider issuing such alerts after conducting a poll on the issue.
Asked about CIA Director William Burns’ comments during a CBS interview that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has ordered the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to prepare to invade Taiwan by 2027, Chiu said Taiwan’s military is training for combat “every day.”
The military does not take into account whether a war could break out in this decade or specifically in 2027, he said.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS