The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said that it would increase the number of reservists called up to its largest annual drills by more than 5,000, in line with its policy to boost the combat readiness of the nation’s reserve force.
Last year’s Tung Hsin mobilization exercise saw the participation of 14,647 reservists and active-duty service members, an increase of 2,032 from a year earlier, Deputy Inspector General Chou Chin-lung (周錦龍) told a news conference.
The number of reservists mobilized for this year’s Tung Hsin exercise would increase further, Chou said.
Photo: CNA
The Tung Hsin exercise is held concurrently with the Han Kuang military exercises to test reservists’ ability to swiftly assemble into a fighting force or provide assistance to police, first responders or civil defense teams.
This year’s Han Kuang exercises are to be held from July 9 to 18, the ministry said.
Hsia Chen-kuo (夏振國), deputy head of the All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency’s Mobilization Management Division, said more than 20,000 reservists would be mobilized for the Tung Hsin exercise, meaning there would be at least 5,000 more reservists engaging in the drill this year.
Reservists participating in the drill would be trained to fire pistols and rifles in standing, kneeling and prone positions to help them become familiar with real-world combat scenarios, Hsia said.
The higher number of reservists set to be mobilized in the drill is partly due to an increase in the members of regional reserve brigades, Hsia added.
Increasing the number of reservists participating in the drill is also consistent with the ministry’s policy of “transforming” the reserve force into a more combat-ready branch of the military, Chou said.
Among the ministry’s major policy goals are boosting the joint combat and training capabilities of the army, navy and air force, holding more realistic drills to better approximate battlefield situations, and strengthening cooperation between the armed forces and civilians, Chou said.
Other major goals include achieving autonomy in national defense technologies, building a complete national defense supply chain, expanding international collaborations and exchanges regarding defense affairs, and retaining high-caliber talent in the military, Chou added.
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
‘MISGUIDED EDICT’: Two US representatives warned that Somalia’s passport move could result in severe retaliatory consequences and urged it to reverse its decision Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has ordered that a special project be launched to counter China’s “legal warfare” distorting UN Resolution 2758, a foreign affairs official said yesterday. Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority on Wednesday cited UN Resolution 2758 and Mogadishu’s compliance with the “one China” principle as it banned people from entering or transiting in the African nation using Taiwanese passports or other Taiwanese travel documents. The International Air Transport Association’s system shows that Taiwanese passport holders cannot enter Somalia or transit there. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) protested the move and warned Taiwanese against traveling to Somalia or Somaliland
SECURITY: Grassroots civil servants would only need to disclose their travel, while those who have access to classified information would be subject to stricter regulations The government is considering requiring legislators and elected officials to obtain prior approval before traveling to China to prevent Chinese infiltration, an official familiar with national security said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) in March announced 17 measures to counter China’s growing infiltration efforts, including requiring all civil servants to make trips to China more transparent so they can be held publicly accountable. The official said that the government is considering amending the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to require all civil servants to follow strict regulations before traveling to China.
RSS