As part of a push to strengthen defenses around the capital, the marine corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), a source with knowledge of the matter said today.
Two weeks ago, a military source revealed that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the marine corps to increase troop counts in the greater Taipei area.
The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas around Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital.
Photo courtesy of the Military News Agency
This comes after a 2017 decision by the Ministry of National Defense to station the brigade at the Political Warfare Academy in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), the first combat unit based in Taipei, the source said.
The personnel currently deployed to the airport are about the strength of a company, another source said on condition of anonymity.
Plans regarding how long troops would remain deployed in the area or whether their remit would expand to jointly protect Taipei’s Boai Special District (博愛特區) alongside military police have yet to be finalized, the source said.
On the eve of Lunar New Year, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) thanked air force, army and navy for their hard work and sacrifices on behalf of the country.
In photographs released by the Military News Agency, soldiers with marine equipment could be seen in the foreground with commercial airliners and civilian buildings in the background, confirming their deployment to the Songshan airport.
To defend against “decapitation strikes” against the capital, the 66th Marine Brigade has been reorganized as a strategic reserve force directly under the command of the general staff to support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei, the source said.
As part of its reorganization efforts to better support the military police presence in Taipei, the 66th Marine Brigade is to follow the example of the US Marine Corps and remove its armor and artillery units, the source said.
In their place, the brigade would add a drone unit, they added.
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
Deliveries of delayed F-16V jets are expected to begin in September, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said today, after senior defense officials visited the US last week. The US in 2019 approved a US$8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the nation’s F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets, but the project has been hit by issues including software problems. Koo appeared today before a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which is discussing different versions of the special defense budget this week. The committee is questioning officials today,
TALENT SCOUTING: The university is investing substantial funds in its future to bring in the kind of researchers that would keep the college internationally competitive National Taiwan University (NTU) plans to invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to launch two programs aimed at attracting and retaining top research talent, university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said yesterday. The funding would support the “Palm Grove Scholars Project,” which targets academics aged 40 to 55. Up to 20 scholars would be selected, each receiving as much as NT$10 million annually, Chen said. The initiative is designed to attract leading researchers to Taiwan and strengthen NTU’s global competitiveness by fostering a more research-friendly environment and expanding international collaboration, he said. NTU is also introducing a “Hong Hu” chair grant, which would provide Palm
RSS