Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) yesterday praised Taiwanese troops for their work over the past 10 days, as the longest-ever live-fire component of Taiwan’s annual military exercises concluded early yesterday.
In a teleconference to the armed forces, Koo officially announced the end of the 10-day, nine-night Han Kuang exercises that began on Wednesday last week.
That was double the length of previous live-fire segments, which typically lasted five days and four nights, the ministry said in a statement.
Photo courtesy of the Dongyin Area Command via CNA
Koo praised the participating troops, in particular those in central and southern Taiwan, given that aside from joining the exercises, they also helped people in regions affected by Typhoon Danas.
Koo said they served as an example of military-civilian cooperation, as they not only helped defend the country, but also people affected by the typhoon, the statement said.
The 10-day drills saw the debuts of US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, TOW 2B anti-tank missiles, newly purchased uncrewed aviation vehicles and a domestically built land-based version of the Sky Sword II (陸射劍二) missile, Koo said.
The exercises also mobilized the 206th Reserve Brigade, he added.
Up to 22,000 reservists participated in the 10-day drills, which tested their ability to provide brigade-sized rather than battalion-sized support, and capabilities to serve as a stronger backup to the regular troops, Koo said.
The defense chief also said that due to the “unscripted” nature of this year’s drills and because military vehicles frequently drove on the streets alongside civilian vehicles, there were several traffic incidents involving military vehicles.
Koo has asked senior military officials to look into the matter to prevent reoccurrences, the ministry said.
At least seven traffic incidents involving military vehicles or personnel were reported by local media over the past 10 days, resulting in minor injuries to five soldiers.
The first three days of Taiwan’s military exercises focused on countering China’s “gray zone” tactics, the ministry said.
The drills then transitioned to their “full-scale combat” phase, which included joint anti-landing operations on Sunday, coastal and beachhead combat on Monday, in-depth defense on Tuesday and Wednesday, and protracted warfare on Thursday and yesterday.
The final day of the exercises saw urban resilience drills conducted across eastern Taiwan and the outlying islands.
Elsewhere on the final day, personnel executed defense-in-depth tactics and simulated urban combat scenarios. Garrison troops also participated in live-fire exercises near the Taipei MRT Red Line.
At 10am yesterday, urban resilience drills were held in Hualien County, Taitung County and the outlying counties of Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang.
In Lienchiang, the army’s Matsu Defense Command worked with the county government to evacuate civilians to shelters.
In Hualien, police cleared roads and directed civilians to shelters, while a missile strike simulation was held at the train station in Jian Township (吉安), requiring emergency services.
In Penghu, nearly 300 tourists sought refuge in the Pier 3 shopping mall, where fire-fighting robots were deployed to the Magong power plant for disaster relief
From 6am Thursday to 6am yesterday, 11 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft were detected around Taiwan, with seven crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said.
Eleven Chinese PLA vessels were also spotted in the Strait, it said.
The ministry said that the armed forces were continuing to monitor the situation and remain ready to respond as necessary.
Additional reporting by Yu Chao-fu, Hua Meng-ching
and Fang Wei-li
PREPAREDNESS: Given the difficulty of importing ammunition during wartime, the Ministry of National Defense said it would prioritize ‘coproduction’ partnerships A newly formed unit of the Marine Corps tasked with land-based security operations has recently replaced its aging, domestically produced rifles with more advanced, US-made M4A1 rifles, a source said yesterday. The unnamed source familiar with the matter said the First Security Battalion of the Marine Corps’ Air Defense and Base Guard Group has replaced its older T65K2 rifles, which have been in service since the late 1980s, with the newly received M4A1s. The source did not say exactly when the upgrade took place or how many M4A1s were issued to the battalion. The confirmation came after Chinese-language media reported
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty. Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month. The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing. The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said. Sun made the remarks when
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
BROAD AGREEMENT: The two are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff to 15% and a commitment for TSMC to build five more fabs, a ‘New York Times’ report said Taiwan and the US have reached a broad consensus on a trade deal, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said yesterday, after a report said that Washington is set to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent. The New York Times on Monday reported that the two nations are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent and commit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to building at least five more facilities in the US. “The agreement, which has been under negotiation for months, is being legally scrubbed and could be announced this month,” the paper said,
RSS