The National Security Bureau will hold an exercise simulating a surprise attack by China, it was reported yesterday as the Ministry of National Defense launched a probe into the leaking of military data on such drills.
President Chen Shui-bian (
The exercise was aimed to test security authorities' measures designed to protect top government officials should war break out in the Taiwan Strait, the newspaper said, without providing its source.
The drill, however, was shadowed by the defense ministry's announcement yesterday that it had launched an investigation into the alleged leaking of military data by an army colonel who played a role in this year's biggest military war game, Han Kuang 23.
The colonel was found to have taken home a USB flash drive containing data simulating an attack by the People's Liberation Army, the ministry said in a statement.
The drive also contained the sensitive data regarding "Po Sheng" (Broad Victory), the military program launched by the military in 2003 to enhance the military's communications, intelligence and surveillance capabilities.
The flash drive was discovered to have contained a computer virus that Chinese hackers have used to assault the nation's military and government Web sites, the statement said.
The ministry said it was "evaluating the damage" of the leak.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
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An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,