Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) yesterday offered his reassurances after a local military expert said that Chinese warplanes are inching closer to Taiwan and could reach the Presidential Office in Taipei within minutes.
The warning by retired air force lieutenant general Chang Yen-ting (張延廷), was based on a Ministry of National Defense chart posted on Sunday last week, which showed two Chinese fighter jets crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait and getting as close as 41 nautical miles (75.9km) from Keelung.
Chang said that meant a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplane could reach the Presidential Office within four or five minutes.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
This is a problem, because Taiwanese warplanes need at least six minutes to take off and intercept PLA planes, and Taiwan’s military would have little time to prepare to counter such an incursion, Chang said.
Before a fighter jet gets close to Taiwan’s airspace, the military can only track PLA warplanes with anti-air missile systems, exposing a weakness in the nation’s air defenses, Chang said.
Asked about Chang’s warning, Chiu said yesterday that Taiwan’s military has a regular intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system in place “exactly for the purpose of preventing that scenario from happening.”
He did not elaborate.
However, he said that without military counterattack measures in place, “it is true that a fighter jet would reach the Presidential Office within three to five minutes” if they were 41 nautical miles from Keelung.
Chiu was also asked about media reports that a Chinese oceanographic survey and research ship — the Xiang Yang Hong No. 6 — was detected in waters off Hualien County on Monday.
He said that it is not unusual for Taiwan to identify Chinese survey and research ships in waters around Taiwan.
While the Chinese vessel was detected “at a sensitive time,” Taiwan’s coast guard and military have responses ready, he said, without elaborating.
The military began the eight-day tabletop war games phase of this year’s Han Kuang exercises from Friday last week before the live-fire exercises are held on July 22 to 26. The Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s major war games, have been held annually since 1984 to test combat readiness in the face of a possible Chinese invasion.
The median line has for decades served as a tacit border between China and Taiwan, but China’s has more freely crossed it since then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS