The armed forces began their annual Han Kuang military exercises (漢光演習) yesterday, drilling troops and weapons mobilization for counter-strikes in the event of an invasion by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Among the first day’s main activities was a live-fire drill by the big guns of the 21st Artillery Command of the Republic of China Army’s 6th Corps, which took place at the army’s Kengzikou (坑子口) target practice range in Hsinchu County.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) attended the event at the range to observe the firepower of the self-propelled M109 and M110 howitzers, where the troops drilled artillery strikes as part of an anti-amphibious-landing drill.
Photo courtesy of the Military News Agency
This week’s Han Kuang exercises last five days, with the Ministry of National Defense overseeing exercises at military installations and airbases across the nation, including on the nation’s outlying islands.
The National Security Council is also coordinating with the military to hold its two-day “Political-Military Exercise,” simulating cyberattacks against water and electricity facilities, and against central government ministries by China’s cyberwarfare units.
The National Security Council exercises train Web managers and digital security experts to respond to Chinese cyberattacks to get computer networks and Web sites back online.
Another main focus of the first day of the drills was protecting major weapons and maintaining the military’s fighting strength to mount counterattacks in the event of a first strike on Taiwan by the PLA.
Air force bases and radar stations in the west were mobilized for countermeasures, surveillance of enemy advancement and situation assessment, while fighter jets were flown to the mountain cavern aircraft hangars at Hualien County’s Jiashan Air Base.
Defense ministry officials said the military exercises include both active and reserve troops and are larger in scale than last year’s, with drills by the three main branches of the armed forces, and for the first time with the participation of the the Tuo Jiang (沱江) stealth missile corvette and the Panshih (磐石) supply vessel, weapon-carrying drones and US-made P-3C marine patrol aircraft.
‘LONE WOLF’: The suspect was difficult to locate, as he did not use a cellphone, did not contact family and often lived in abandoned sites or parks, police said Taipei police on Thursday morning arrested a man accused of numerous burglaries and at least 14 incidents of sexual assault spanning more than 20 years, in what might be the nation’s most notorious crime spree in recent years. Sixty-year-old Tu Ming-lang (涂明朗) — who was yesterday placed in judicial detention, after a judge determined he was a flight risk without a fixed address — faces multiple charges of sexual assault and burglary, police said. A task force comprised of various law enforcement agencies arrested Tu as part of an investigation into an April 28 burglary in Daan District (大安), in which a
Ninth graders were asked to define “trolling” on this year’s standardized exam, reflecting efforts to make the test better reflect real-life situations. Adjustments to this year’s Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students were revealed on Sunday, after the last cohort of students completed the test over the weekend. The Ministry of Education solicited feedback about the test from teachers, who approved of the new question in the English portion. Not only was question No. 20 “very much in line with real-life situations,” but it also used a new style in which students were asked to ascertain the correct dictionary definition based
Taiwan is on alert for monkeypox, a rare viral disease that has caused 87 infections in 11 countries over the past three weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Saturday. The WHO on Friday convened an emergency session to discuss a sudden outbreak of monkeypox in North America and Europe. Since the beginning of this month, 87 confirmed cases and 28 possible cases have been identified in 11 countries. The countries with the highest case counts are England with 29 cases, and Portugal and Spain with 23 each. Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease occurring primarily in the tropical rainforest areas
Three human skeletons and artifacts believed to be about 400 years old were unearthed by construction workers at National Ilan University in Yilan County, the university said yesterday. The discoveries were made on May 10 as workers were digging to expand the College of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science’s facilities, the university said in a statement. The skeletons were found at three sites, along with glass beads, copper bells and rings, discs and a fish-shaped metal knot, it said. The find is likely connected to the “Old Baili Village” (擺厘舊社, Bai Li Jiu She), an as-yet-undiscovered Kavalan settlement that has been mentioned in
RSS