The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcomed the US Senate’s and the US House of Representatives’ call for military exchanges between senior Taiwanese and US officials in the US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the 2017 fiscal year, expressing gratitude to the US Congress for its continuous efforts to promote military cooperation between Taiwan and the US.
“Such words were already included in the two houses’ separate versions of the NDAA for next year when they deliberated in the first half of this year,” ministry spokeswoman Eleanor Wang (王珮玲) said.
Wang said the ministry welcomed the retention of the language in the two US government bodies’ post-negotiation versions, and would continue to keep close tabs on the pending votes on the bill and the ensuing legislative process.
“The ministry also appreciates the US Congress’ continued endeavors to strengthen Taipei-Washington ties, and to encourage bilateral military cooperation and exchanges,” Wang added.
According to the NDAA report, which was released on Wednesday, section 1284 of the document says that the US Secretary of Defense should enact a program of exchanges between senior Taiwanese and US military officers and officials to improve military-to-military relations.
It defines the exchanges as an activity, exercise, event or observation opportunity between Taiwanese and US military officials.
The report said the exchanges should focus on seven areas — threat analysis; military doctrine; force planning; logistical support; intelligence collection and analysis; operational tactics, techniques and procedures; and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
The officials participating in the exchanges should include active-duty generals or flag officers of the US armed forces, as well US Department of Defense civilian officials ranked assistant secretary of defense or above, the report said.
The US House of Representative and the US Senate are set to vote on the proposal later this week.
Additional reporting by CNA
China appears to have built mockups of a port in northeastern Taiwan and a military vessel docked there, with the aim of using them as targets to test its ballistic missiles, a retired naval officer said yesterday. Lu Li-shih (呂禮詩), a former lieutenant commander in Taiwan’s navy, wrote on Facebook that satellite images appeared to show simulated targets in a desert in China’s Xinjiang region that resemble the Suao naval base in Yilan County and a Kidd-class destroyer that usually docks there. Lu said he compared the mockup port to US naval bases in Yokosuka and Sasebo, Japan, and in Subic Bay
Police are investigating the death of a Formosan black bear discovered on Tuesday buried near an industrial road in Nantou County, with initial evidence indicating that it was shot accidentally by a hunter. The bear had been caught in wildlife traps at least five times before, three times since 2020. Codenamed No. 711, the bear received extensive media coverage last year after it was discovered trapped twice in less than two months in the Taichung mountains. After its most recent ensnarement last month, the bear was released in the Dandashan (丹大山) area in Nantou County’s Sinyi Township (信義). However, officials became concerned after the
The majority of parents surveyed in northern Taiwan favor the suspension of all on-site classes at schools from the junior-high level and below amid a surge in domestic COVID-19 infections, parent groups said yesterday. About 84.4 percent of respondents in a survey of 2,912 parents in northern Taiwan, where the outbreak is the most serious, said they supported suspending classes, the Action Alliance on Basic Education, the Taiwan Parents Protect Women and Children Association, and the Taiwan Love Children Association said. The groups distributed questionnaires to parents in New Taipei City, Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan and Hsinchu city and county from Saturday morning
DETERRENCE: US National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell said cross-strait affairs are on the agenda at the US-ASEAN Special Leaders’ Summit The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday thanked the Czech Senate for passing a resolution supporting Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHO and other international organizations for the second consecutive year. The resolution was passed on Wednesday with 51 votes in favor, one opposed and 11 abstentions. In addition to the WHO, it also called for Taiwan’s participation in the “meetings, mechanisms and activities” of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the International Civil Aviation Organization and Interpol. In its opening, the resolution states that the Czech Republic “considers Taiwan as one of its key partners in the Indo-Pacific region,” while noting its