President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday visited the military police’s Mechanized Infantry 239th Battalion, thanking troops for remaining on duty during the Lunar New Year holiday while encouraging them to boost the public’s confidence in the military’s combat readiness.
Tsai was accompanied by National Security Council Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄) and Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) during the visit to the battalion at the Fusi Barracks in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直).
The battalion is the military police’s only armored unit and an important garrison stationed in the nation’s capital, she said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The battalion performed very well during combat training, and carried out several combat readiness patrols and joint combat training exercises last year, she said.
The soldiers should be recognized for their efforts as they continue to improve their combat skills and improve their defensive capabilities, she added.
The Ministry of National Defense said that 10 Chinese military aircraft and four naval ships were detected in areas around Taiwan on Saturday and yesterday.
The ministry did not publish the flight path of the aircraft or specify whether any of them entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) or crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait. It did not provide details on the models and types of the aircraft and naval vessels.
The ministry said it scrambled air and naval patrols, and activated missile systems to track the Chinese aircraft and vessels.
The ministry has since Sept. 17, 2020, posted information about Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s ADIZ amid the growing frequency of intrusions.
China stepped up its military exercises in August last year, when it held live-fire drills in six locations around Taiwan proper after then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan.
Dozens of Chinese warplanes have since then crossed the median line, an unofficial border between Taiwan and China that had been respected for decades, which is generally considered to be far more provocative than incursions into the ADIZ.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
DEFENSIVE EDGE: The liaison officer would work with Taiwan on drones and military applications for other civilian-developed technologies, a source said A Pentagon unit tasked with facilitating the US military’s adoption of new technology is soon to deploy officials to dozens of friendly nations, including Taiwan, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is to send a representative to collaborate with Taiwan on drones and military applications from the semiconductor industry by the end of the year, the British daily reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “Drones will certainly be a focus, but they will also be looking at connecting to the broader civilian and dual-use ecosystem, including the tech sector,” one source was
RSS