Because China has never signed a treaty banning the use of cluster bombs, to maximize its military position, Taiwan will continue to include the weapons in its arsenal, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said on Thursday.
While the majority of Taiwan’s cluster bombs are imported, the ministry said that the Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology has made the necessary preparations to independently manufacture the bombs.
TREATY
Cluster bombs often kill innocent civilians.
On May 28, 124 countries reached an agreement on a treaty in Dublin, Ireland, that will ban the use of cluster bombs internationally. This treaty will most likely be signed in Oslo, Norway, at the end of this year.
However, the world’s main users and manufacturers of cluster bombs, including China, the US, Israel, India and Russia are against moves to ban the weapons and are not likely to sign the treaty.
A cluster bomb is loaded with smaller bomblets, which are sprayed across a wide area and are capable of causing massive damage at distances of up to 25m.
Unexploded cluster bombs left behind after attacks have killed many innocent civilians and have therefore drawn much international attention.
TAIWAN’S ARSENAL
Military officials said half of Taiwan’s RT2000 (Thunder) multiple launch rocket systems are packed with high-explosive shell types, while the other half are packed with cluster bombs.
Taiwan would use cluster bombs to attack ships in waters close to Taiwan. The bombs are dispersed across the surface of the ocean and should therefore pose no threat to civilians, the ministry said.
While cluster bombs will continue to be included in Taiwan’s arsenal for the time being, high-explosive shell bombs will be used in place of cluster bombs if the international ban succeeds.
Two people were killed and another nine injured yesterday after being stung by hornets while hiking in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳), with officials warning against wearing perfume or straying from trails during the autumn to avoid the potentially deadly creatures. Seven of the hikers only sustained minor injuries after being stung along the Bafenliao Hiking Trail (八分寮) and made their way down the mountain with a guide, the New Taipei City Fire Department said. Four of them — all male — sustained more serious injuries and were assisted when leaving the mountain, the department said. Two of them, a man surnamed
Recent movements by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have been “highly unusual,” but the military maintains a grasp of the situation, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said on Friday, after the military for the first time said it was monitoring troop movements in China’s Dacheng Bay (大埕灣). The minister gave the remarks to reporters before appearing at the legislature on the first day of its new session. The Ministry of National Defense on Thursday evening released an air force surveillance photograph of a PLA Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, and said it was monitoring the PLA Rocket Force and ground
‘ABNORMITY’: News of the military exercises on the coast of the Chinese province facing Taiwan were made public by the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday Taiwan’s military yesterday said it has detected the Chinese military initiating a round of exercises at a bay area in coastal Fujian Province, which faces Taiwan, since early yesterday morning and it has been closely monitoring the drills. The exercises being conducted at Fujian’s Dacheng Bay featured an undisclosed number of People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) warplanes, warships and ground troops, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press statement. The ministry did not disclose what kind of military exercises are being conducted there and for how long they would be happening, but it did say that it has been closely watching
China’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong has asked foreign consulates in Hong Kong to submit details of their local staff, which is more proof that the “one country, two systems” model no longer exists, a Taiwanese academic said. The office sent letters dated Monday last week to consulates in the territory, giving them one month to submit the information it requires. The move followed Beijing’s attempt to obtain floor plans for all properties used by foreign missions in Hong Kong last year, which raised concerns among diplomats that the information could be used for
RSS