A powerful defense is needed to maintain peace, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday as she led her final remembrance service as Taiwan’s commander in chief for those killed during the 1958 defense of Kinmen County against a Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) invasion.
Her visit to Kinmen — just a few kilometers from China at its closest point — comes as Beijing has increased military activity around Taiwan.
It was the third time since taking office in 2016 that Tsai has attended the annual memorial, which marks the anniversary of the start of a massive PLA artillery bombardment of Kinmen at the beginning of the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis 65 years ago.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
The president burned incense, laid a wreath and bowed her head to pay her respects to those who died during the conflict. She was accompanied by Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) and National Security Council Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄).
Tsai recalled how the troops and civilians “fought with one heart and persisted in repelling the enemy forces who tried to invade.”
“To keep the peace, we need to strengthen ourselves,” Tsai said. “As such, we need to continue to reform the national defense, push for self-reliance, strengthen our defense capabilities and resilience.”
Photo: CNA
The president later attended a luncheon for survivors and family members of those killed during the 1958 bombardment, in which Kinmen was hit with 475,000 artillery shells over 44 days.
“Our position on maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is very firm,” Tsai said at the lunch, adding that there would be no Taiwan today if they had not prevailed during the crisis in 1958.
Fighting broke out on Aug. 23, 1958, when Chinese forces began an intense bombardment of Taiwan’s outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang counties in a bid to dislodge the Republic of China (ROC) government, which had retreated from China to Taiwan after losing the Chinese Civil War.
Taiwan fought with support from the US, which sent military equipment such as Sidewinder anti-aircraft missiles, giving Taiwan a technological edge.
The crisis ended in a stalemate.
Additional reporting by AP and AFP
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS