NATIONAL DEFENSE
China focuses on spying
China is boosting and diversifying its efforts to penetrate the military as exchanges across the Taiwan Strait increase, Minister of National Defense Yen Ming (嚴明) said yesterday in a call for the military to heighten its guard against spies. As seen by the number of espionage cases exposed in recent years, Beijing has stepped up its intelligence collection on Taiwan’s armed forces, posing a serious threat to the overall security of the military, Yen said at a military promotion ceremony. Besides improving internal management and boosting the awareness of confidentiality among active personnel, there is a need to increase awareness among retired personnel and their families, he said. He said China’s continued buildup and territorial disputes in the East China Sea and South China Sea are having a tremendous impact on regional stability, stressing that Taiwan must establish a streamlined, but capable defense force in the face of the military threat.
MILITARY
Ma touts transition progress
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday praised the development of military recruitment this year amid the armed forces’ shift to an all-volunteer force, noting that the number of new recruits exceeded the target for the year. Speaking at a ceremony held for officer promotions, Ma said that the military has selected about 14,000 new recruits, beating by 35 percent the goal of 10,500 volunteers. More than 30,000 people have applied to join the military, he said. More soldiers due to finish their service have also chosen to stay on instead of being discharged, he said. Ma said 59 percent of service men and women had agreed to stay on, up 13 percent from the previous two years. Ma also said that more women have enlisted. There are now 16,000 servicewomen in the nation’s military, representing 10.51 percent of all military personnel, a record high, he said. In a bid to transition to an all-volunteer force, the military has rolled out a series of incentives for career soldiers such as increasing pay and offering opportunities for further studies while serving.
AVIATION
Cross-strait flights agreed
Taiwan and China have reached an agreement to allow an unlimited number of additional cross-strait flights to accommodate Lunar New Year holiday travel next year, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said yesterday. From Feb. 5 to March 5, airlines can offer as many flights as they like to any destination in China except for busy airports in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou, the CAA said. In those five cities, the number of extra flights will be restricted to 304 for each side. A total of 165 extra flights were approved for each side to Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, compared with only 105 during the Lunar New Year holiday this year. Also, no additional flights will operate between Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), the CAA said. The extra flights would be added to the 840 scheduled cross-strait flights each week, the CAA said. Last year it was announced that Taiwan and China had agreed to raise the number of regular cross-strait flights from 558 to 616, allowing each nation to dispatch 308 cross-strait flights per week. Direct flights between the two nations only began again in 2008, when President Ma Ying-jeou came to power.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
Taiwan and its Pacific ally Tuvalu on Tuesday signed two accords aimed at facilitating bilateral cooperation on labor affairs, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). The governments inked two agreements in Taipei, witnessed by Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and visiting Deputy Tuvaluan Prime Minister Panapasi Nelesone, MOFA said in a news release. According to MOFA, the agreements will facilitate cooperation on labor issues and allow the two sides to mutually recognize seafarers’ certificates and related training. Taiwan would also continue to collaborate with Tuvalu across various fields to promote economic prosperity as well as the well-being of their
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
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office has continued its investigation into allegations of forged signatures in recall efforts today by searching the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) city chapter and questioning several personnel including the chapter director, according to media reports. Among those questioned and detained were KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), chapter secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿), chapter secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文) and first district committee executive director Tseng Fan-chuan (曾繁川). Prosecutors said they would not confirm reports about who had been summoned. The investigation centers on allegations that the ongoing recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party legislators Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤)
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