The military is to be on high alert in the days around the Jan. 13 election to prepare for any activity by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the Ministry of National Defense said on Wednesday.
From 5pm on Jan. 12 to 8am on Jan. 14, all branches of the military are to be on high alert while maintaining regular operations, Colonel Lo Yung-chang (羅永昶), deputy head of ministry’s Office of Operations and Planning, told foreign media following a regular briefing at the ministry in Taipei.
During this period, the military is to maintain close contact with joint intelligence offices to keep an eye on PLA movements, he said.
Photo: Wu Su-wei, Taipei Times
Regardless of whether it utilizes “gray-zone” tactics or more overt aggression, it will be handled flexibly and in accordance with regulations, he added.
Meanwhile, the ministry on Wednesday announced another Chinese balloon crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the fifth this month.
The military is to "handle" Chinese balloons flying nearby based on threat assessments, although officials believe the current wave is for weather purposes, driven by the prevailing winds, the ministry said.
From October to March, Chinese balloons are more regularly spotted due to the winds at that time of year, ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) said.
"Generally speaking, most of the ones we have spotted so far are weather balloons," he said. "They are from China, and not necessarily from the PLA."
The ministry would announce it if the balloons are for surveillance purposes, but it is so far not possible to judge whether the balloons seen are connected to the election, he said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS