A new construction project listed in the government’s e-procurement system as commissioned by the air force has roused speculation that it could be a bid to enhance missile bases on Lienchiang County’s Dongyin Island (東引).
The construction is projected to cost NT$402 million (US$13.8 million) and be concluded by June 30, 2022, bid results on the platform showed.
However, the military in a statement on Monday said that the project was to improve the quality of life for armed forces personnel stationed on the island.
In a response to the statement, a military source said that the cost far exceeded the funds required for such improvements, adding that it might be a bid to reinforce newly established facilities on the island.
The maximum interception range for the Tien Kung III missile system is 40km, but the effective interception range falls between 24km and 26km, which is similar to the US’ MIM-104 Patriot-3 missile system, the source said.
The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is hoping to increase the maximum range to 70km and the effective range to 35km to 40km so that the missiles could better counter the threat posed by Chinese missiles, the source added.
“We are, essentially, hoping that our missile systems would have a portion of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system capability,” the source said.
The radar system on Dongyin Island is capable of monitoring all activity at the Yixu and Longtian People’s Liberation Army Air Force bases in China’s Fujian Province, the source said, adding that the radar system could also track and lock on to Chinese planes should their actions constitute a direct threat to Taiwan.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching