The Presidential Office yesterday denied local media reports that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) would today fly by helicopter to the Hengshan command post to take part in a counterterrorism drill.
"President Chen has no plans to take a helicopter to Hengshan command post and take part in the counterterrorism drill, as some TV news networks have reported," a press release issued by the Presidential Office's Department of Public Affairs said yesterday.
The statement was a rebuttal to a TV news report, which said that the president would lead the premier and the heads of all the ministries to the Hengshan command post today to take part in a three-day counterterrorism drill. The president would fly to the command post via chopper from the Presidential Office, the report said.
Meanwhile, officials from a counterterrorism office under the Executive Yuan said yesterday that the drill would consist of a computer simulation of an attack on Taiwan by terrorists.
The three-day drill, which starts today, will be held at Hengshan command post. A tightly guarded command center in Dazhi on the outskirts of Taipei, the Hengshan command post is one of the most secret and important military facilities in Taiwan.
Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) will lead Cabinet members to take part in the drill.
Speaking at a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan yesterday, Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) said that the counterterrorism drill will be conducted by the Executive Yuan with Premier Hsieh as the convener in the first half of the year, while the annual "Han Kuang" (漢光) military exercises will be held later this year. The Han Kuang exercises will include an "anti-decapitation strike" drill.
Lee made the remarks when responding to an inquiry from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Pan Wei-kang (
Asked whether the Han Kuang live-fire maneuvers will raise cross-strait tensions, Hsieh, speaking on the same occasion, said the annual drills are necessary and that everyone should take them in stride.
Counterterrorism measures need to be integrated into all divisions of the Executive Yuan, Hsieh said.
"The drill is therefore necessary to find out how each division would react and how to integrate their actions in the case of a terrorist attack," the premier said.
Decapitation strategies are designed to short-circuit command and control systems, wipe out national nerve centers and leave an opponent immobilized. Military observers say China is likely to use such a strategy to invade Taiwan by seizing the country's centers of power, the capital and top leaders.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS