Residents of a village in Pingtung County near a military base where live-fire exercises are regularly held said they have lived in constant fear, after a missile almost hit the village on March 8, 2012.
Gangzai Village (港仔村), near the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jioupeng Military Base (九鵬基地) and the Joint Operations Training Base, was nearly hit by a surface-to-air missile that “made a turn” toward the village, but luckily the missile exploded in the air 24 seconds after it was launched.
The case was handled by Chief of the General Staff Yen Teh-fa (嚴德發) — then-deputy chief of the general staff — who visited the village to announce the military would offer compensation to repair vehicles damaged in the incident.
The military explained that the missile was launched based on proper procedure for a targeted frequency on radar and that the weapon was in good condition, but villagers still do not know what caused the missile to turn.
The institute was conducting a surface-to-air missile test, but the weapon failed to lock onto its target out at sea and locked onto an unknown heat source onshore, causing it to turn toward the nearby mountainous area and explode above the village.
Missile fragments were scattered on village rooftops, car windows were shattered and some residents suspect cracks in their homes were caused by the vibrations of rocks rolling down from the mountains.
“The recent Hsiung Feng III missile incident highlights the long-term threat facing the Gangzai and Jioupeng (九棚) villages,” said Hsu Chen-chang (徐振章), a councilor representing Manjhou Township (滿州鄉).
As Friday’s incident might cause villagers to fear going out to sea during military drills and the earlier incident has left them in fear of staying in the village, the government should review safety procedures during exercises and develop a mechanism to compensate residents, Hsu said.
One older resident of Checheng Township (車城), surnamed Chang (張), said a recreation center was blown up by a naval gun years ago, and cases of bullets penetrating roofs, explosive fragments hitting farms and flares falling into villages continue to occur.
Chang said he hoped the military will be more careful when staging exercises, but other villagers have urged the Ministry of National Defense to relocate the base.
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