The army is in the process of updating its decades-old traditional bayonet training with a program focusing on hand-to-hand combat to equip soldiers with more practical skills critical for survival on the battlefield, a senior military official said yesterday.
Ministry of National Defense (MND) Major General Liu Sheen-mo (劉慎謨), who is in charge of training, said military instructors at the Army Infantry Training Command’s Sports Science Center are studying the US military’s hand-to-hand closed-quarters combat program and will use it as a base when updating Taiwan’s decades-old bayonet program.
The ultimate goal is to come up with a new training program that would enable a soldier to use handheld weapons or a knife to take down a rival, which should significantly increase the soldier’s chances of survival, Liu told reporters during a media briefing.
Photo courtesy of the Penghu Defense Command via CNA
Liu made the comments in response to questions about the army’s replacement for the military’s traditional bayonet training that had been in place since 1965.
The new defense head last week pledged that it would be updated.
Speaking during a legislative session on Thursday last week, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said that traditional bayonet training is ceremonial and more of a formality with very little practical use in close combat.
The decision to scrap the outdated program was made to allow troops to focus more on practical training sessions and enhance their defense capabilities, Koo said.
The traditional program was established in 1965 by combining US and Japanese styles of bayonet charge practices, but over the years, experts have criticized its practical use in close combat on the battlefield.
Koo, the nation’s first civilian defense head in a decade, has also announced that other decades-old traditions in the armed forces would be scrapped. This includes goose-stepping and overseas travel restrictions for military personnel.
A fourth public debate was held today about restarting the recently decommissioned Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, ahead of a referendum on the controversial issue to be held in less than two weeks. A referendum on Aug. 23 is to ask voters if they agree that “the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant should continue operations upon approval by the competent authority and confirmation that there are no safety concerns.” Anyone over 18 years of age can vote in the referendum. The vote comes just three months after its final reactor shut down, officially making Taiwan nuclear-free. Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) represented
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
‘ANGRY’: Forgetting the humiliations and sacrifices of ‘the people of the Republic of China’ experienced disqualified Lai from being president, Ma Ying-jeou said Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday criticized President William Lai (賴清德) over what he called “phrasing that downplayed Japan’s atrocities” against China during World War II. Ma made the remarks in a post on Facebook on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Ma said he was “angry and disappointed” that Lai described the anniversary as the end of World War II instead of a “victory in the war of resistance” — a reference to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The eight-year war was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other Axis
RSS