The ongoing Han Kuang military exercises entered their sixth day yesterday, simulating repelling enemy landings in Penghu County, setting up fortifications in Tainan, laying mines in waters in Kaohsiung and conducting urban combat drills in Taipei.
At 5am in Penghu — part of the exercise’s first combat zone — participating units responded to a simulated rapid enemy landing on beaches, combining infantry as well as armored personnel.
First Combat Zone Commander Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源) led the combined armed troops utilizing a variety of weapons systems.
Photo: EPA
Wang Keng-sheng (王鏗勝), the commander in charge of the Penghu Defense Command’s mechanized battalion, said he would give the exercise a score of “100 percent.”
Since taking leadership of the unit in May, Wang said he has followed the principle of “one day without war, one day without feeling at ease,” ensuring that participating personnel are sure of their roles.
In Tainan, the army’s 54th Engineer Group conducted a nighttime exercise in constructing defensive fortifications to block a potential enemy advance.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
The unit deployed “Czech hedgehogs,” moved abandoned vehicles into the roadway and installed razor wire barricades, among other measures, to make it difficult for enemy personnel and vehicles to pass.
Some drivers who passed by the area while soldiers set up the fortifications shouted words of encouragement.
It is important to test how quickly fortifications could be erected in a low-light environment, personnel said.
Photo: AFP
The site was cleared by 5am, they added.
In Kaohsiung’s Zuoying District (左營), President William Lai (賴清德) observed a mine-laying exercise and provided personnel with extra meal money to encourage them and show appreciation for their work.
Chang Chia-ming (張家銘), from the navy’s 192nd Fleet’s mine operations squadron, told the president and other officials about the three different types of mines Taiwan uses, all domestically designed and produced.
Photo: CNA
The mines target enemy surface vessels and submarines, Chang said, adding that they are a “shield” for the country.
Mines are cheap to deploy, but expensive and time-consuming to remove as an invading force, Chang said, citing historic examples such as the Korean War and the 1991 Gulf War.
In Taipei, US-made FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired missiles made a rare public appearance during early-morning drills in the Taipei MRT system simulating a Chinese invasion.
The exercises featured military police carrying Stingers, machine guns, 40mm grenade launchers and anti-armor rockets, and were held between Shandao Temple Station and Longshan Temple Station, while the MRT system was closed to passengers.
The Ministry of National Defense said the exercises simulated Taiwanese troops using the MRT system to quickly reach a target area and engage the enemy.
Separately, the ministry said that 17 Chinese aircraft were monitored in the airspace around Taiwan between 6am yesterday and 6am today. Of the 17 aircraft, seven crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, it said.
A further eight naval vessels were also spotted in the waters around Taiwan, it added.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
RSS