Some debris from a rocket that took off from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center landed in waters off the north coast of Taiwan yesterday morning, the Ministry of National Defense said.
The debris fell within the area where China’s Fujian Maritime Safety Administration on Thursday last week said “aeronautic activities” would be held, the ministry said.
Due to the rocket launch, the Fujian agency banned ships from entering the area from 9am to 3pm yesterday, while China’s Civil Aviation Administration prohibited civil aircraft from entering the airspace around the area from 9:30am to 9:57am.
Photo: AP
“We were able to monitor the rocket launch using our military’s intelligence and surveillance systems. Some debris from the rocket fell into the waters that China had warned about last week and did not affect our homeland security,” the ministry said.
Aircraft operating in the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR), and ships navigating the waters off the north coast were safely guided by the Civil Aeronautics Administration and Maritime and Port Bureau respectively, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said.
The Maritime and Port Bureau continued monitoring shipping routes until 5pm yesterday, the transport ministry said.
Between 9am and 10am, about 33 flights in the Taipei FIR were affected by China’s launch: 14 departing flights, 11 arriving flights and eight transit flights, Civil Aeronautics Administration data showed.
On average, each flight reported a delay of about five to 10 minutes, as they were instructed to take an alternative route, the aviation agency said.
Air traffic controllers in Taiwan and Japan coordinated in advance to ensure that flights would operate safely, smoothly and in an orderly manner, it said.
The rocket was reported to have been carrying the Fengyun-3 07, a Chinese-made meteorological satellite, national security officials said.
Institute for National Defense and Security Research research fellow Shen Ming-shih (沈明室) yesterday said that the launch might be part of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to develop a fractional orbital bombardment system (FOBS).
“Through the launch, they might gain an understanding of the parameters and prepare for a launch of the FOBS,” he said. “We should observe if a military vessel was dispatched to fetch the rocket debris, or if the launch was held following the military exercises around Taiwan to amplify cognitive warfare” against the nation.
Institute research fellow Shu Hsiao-huang (舒孝煌) said the CCP claimed that it had launched a meteorological satellite to monitor heavy rainfall in regions of low-to-middle latitudes and prevent damage caused by natural disasters.
“Judging from the way that the CCP set up the no-fly zone for the rocket launch, it might start using the same tactic more frequently to disrupt Taiwan’s civil aviation services. Relevant government agencies should formulate countermeasures in advance,” Shu said.
Additional reporting by CNA
PALAU LAUNCHES: The source said that Taiwanese military personnel traveled to Palau, where a US brigade watched their work amid plans for a defense network The military last month participated in live-fire launches of MM-104F Patriot (PAC-3) missiles under US observation in an undisclosed location in Palau, a step forward in a US-led plan to create a joint defense missile system in the first island chain, a source said on condition of anonymity. The PAC-3 is the mainstay surface-to-air missile of the US, NATO and democratic nations in East Asia, the source said, adding that it has never been live-tested within Taiwan’s borders, the source said. The proximity of Taiwan to China and China’s close surveillance of the nation’s borders and nearby sea zones is a significant
DETERRENCE: The president on Thursday is to launch the first indigenous submarine, which is to enter sea trials next month before being delivered to the navy next year Taiwan hopes to deploy at least two new, domestically developed submarines by 2027, and possibly equip later models with missiles to bolster its deterrence against the Chinese navy and protect key supply lines, the head of the program said. Taiwan has made the Indigenous Submarine Program a key part of an ambitious project to modernize its armed forces as Beijing stages almost daily military exercises. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who initiated the program when she took office in 2016, is expected to launch the first of eight new submarines on Thursday under a plan that has drawn on expertise and technology from
FISHING FUROR: The latest spat was sparked by a floating barrier that was found across the entrance of Scarborough Shoal during a resupply mission to fishers Beijing yesterday warned Manila not to “stir up trouble” after the Philippine Coast Guard said it removed a floating barrier at a disputed reef that was allegedly deployed by China to block Filipino fishers from the area. Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in the South China Sea has long been a source of tension between the nations. China seized the ring of reefs from the Philippines in 2012 and has since deployed patrol boats. The latest spat was sparked by a 300m floating barrier that was found across the entrance of the shoal last week during a routine Philippine government resupply mission
UP-AND-COMER: Taiwan’s youngest-ever Asian Games athlete, 11-year-old Lin Yi-fan, qualified for the final of the women’s park skateboarding event Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei (楊勇緯) yesterday won Taiwan’s first gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, defeating South Korea’s Lee Ha-rim 1-0 in the men’s 60kg category. The gold medal was Taiwan’s 100th since it first participated in the Games in 1954. Yang is also the first Taiwanese to win a gold medal in men’s judo at the Games. After defeating Lee, a teary-eyed Yang hugged his coach, Liu Wen-deng (劉文等). “I finally did it,” the world No. 7 judoka shouted. Previously, Taiwan’s judo team had only collected four silvers in the Asian Games, all of which were won by women. Yang’s gold
RSS