The air force yesterday conducted a rare public drill, loading locally made cruise missiles that reportedly can reach coastal Chinese provinces, amid an increase in military threats from Beijing.
Flight personnel from the First Tactical Fighter Wing loaded an Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) jet with Wan Chien air-to-ground cruise missiles at Tainan Air Base.
The missile, developed by the military’s top research unit, the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, is said to be able to hit Chinese airports and military units in China’s Fujian and Guangdong provinces if fired from Taiwanese fighter jets from near the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
However, Colonel Lee Ching-shi (李慶熙), head of political warfare for the First Tactical Fighter Wing, declined to comment on the missiles’ range or whether air force fighters have already been armed with them on routine patrols.
The drill, which was open to the press, was part of the pre-Lunar New Year holiday drill that the military holds annually to show the public that the armed forces are combat-ready at all times.
An emergency takeoff drill was also held at the base to simulate a Chinese air invasion. It took only about five minutes for an IDF to take off after its pilot heard the scramble alarm.
The drill was held after 29 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) military aircraft crossed into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the past three days.
Four PLA aircraft yesterday entered Taiwan’s ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense’s Web site.
That marks the 22nd day this month that China has sent aircraft into the nation’s ADIZ.
Asked to comment on the high frequency of Chinese intrusions, Lee said that the air force is under tremendous pressure, but would always be ready for combat to safeguard the nation’s airspace.
Lee said that the Taichung-based Third Tactical Fighter Wing has deployed another squadron of IDF jets at Magong Airport in outlying Penghu County, so that it would be able to respond immediately to any Chinese activity.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their
RSS