The Ministry of National Defense and the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) will hold a joint military exercise in the overlapping waters of Taiwan and the Philippines this week, Deputy Minister of National Defense Andrew Yang (楊念祖) said yesterday.
Taiwan’s naval forces are more than a match for the Philippine Navy, Yang said, amid a dispute over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by personnel aboard a Philippine Coast Guard vessel on Thursday last week.
“We without a doubt have adequate forces [against the Philippines],” he said.
Photo: CNA, courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
Yang told lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee that the ministry may hold a large-scale military exercise with the CGA this month. He did not elaborate.
Lawmakers threw their support behind the planned exercise as they adopted a resolution demanding that the drill utilize the coast guard’s 2,000-tonne Hsinbei vessel, the first CGA patrol boat equipped with a 40mm anti-aircraft cannon, as well as navy destroyers and frigates.
The combined exercise would be held in waters about 164 nautical miles (304km) southeast of the southernmost tip of Taiwan, where the 15-tonne Taiwanese fishing boat Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 was attacked by a Philippine Coast Guard vessel, leading to the death of Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成).
If the Philippines fails to respond to the ultimatum by Taiwan regarding the incident, the ministry and the CGA should disperse fishing boats from the Philippines in waters within the 200-nautical mile (370km) exclusive economic zone claimed by Taiwan, carry out onboard checks or detain the boats, the resolution said.
Following the incident, the navy on Sunday dispatched a LaFayette-class frigate to join three coast guard ships to patrol the waters.
On Thursday, a Kidd-class destroyer and a Cheng Kung class frigate are to be dispatched to join two coast guard ships already patrolling the Bashi Channel for training operations, Yang said.
While the CGA will continue to serve as the frontline force to protect fishing boats, the military will offer full backup and support, Yang said.
Activities involving the use of firearms by national defense forces require authorization by the minister of defense.
“Yes, we are ready. The ministry will authorize the use of force” if coast guard ships are attacked by the Philippine Navy, Yang said, in response to a question by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方).
CGA Deputy Minister Cheng Chang-hsiung (鄭樟雄) said coast guard personnel have been authorized to use machine guns or rifles, but not 20mm cannons or other heavier weapons, which would require further authorization from the Coast Guard Administration minister.
Cheng said the CGA is also considering installing more 40mm cannons on coast guard vessels.
According to the CGA, the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 was operating 1.8 nautical miles (3.3km) beyond the temporary law enforcement line when it was confronted by the Philippine Coast Guard and left disabled within the enforcement line.
At a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee, CGA Minister Wang Jinn-wang (王進旺) and Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Hu Sing-hwa (胡興華) both agreed to consider expanding the line further southward.
Navy Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Hsu Pei-shan (許培山) said the navy’s first attack should be authorized by the minister of defense.
Lin asked the defense ministry to authorize naval ships to use certain weapons without giving the ministry prior notice.
According to CGA statistics, Philippine vessels intruded around Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) in the South China Sea 154 times between 2000 and last year, and 34 times around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), but Taiwan’s coast guard did not expel, intercept or detain any of the vessels, Lin added.
Cheng said that according to coast guard regulations, its ships should expel intruding vessels.
Additional reporting by Rich Chang
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
RSS