A US military reconnaissance plane was yesterday morning spotted flying near Taiwan’s southern airspace, marking the 12th time in the past three weeks that US military aircraft have been detected near Taiwan.
A US RC-135W Rivet Joint flew over the South China Sea, according to a flight chart posted to Twitter by the military air movement tracker Aircraft Spots.
Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major General Shih Shun-wen (史順文) did not directly confirm the sighting, except to say that Taiwan’s armed forces are closely monitoring the nation’s surrounding waters and airspace.
US military aircraft have been spotted in the skies around Taiwan 12 times since March 25. Chinese military aircraft have been spotted at least six times since Jan. 23, according to publicly available information from Aircraft Spots and the Ministry of National Defense.
Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy spokesman Gao Xiucheng (高秀成) on Monday confirmed media reports that the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning and several escort ships on Saturday passed through the Miyako Strait and waters east of Taiwan, en route to the South China Sea for annual training exercises.
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), an analyst at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, on Sunday said that China has expanded its maritime and air presence in the Indo-Pacific region.
“This is probably the main reason US reconnaissance planes have recently been spotted operating near the Bashi Channel — to monitor the movements of the People’s Liberation Army in the area,” Su said.
Taiwanese analysts have also said that the US and China are likely using the military movements to signal their continued commitment to the region, despite the challenges they have had in containing the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
RSS