Military conscripts starting their mandatory service this year would be training with drones and Stinger missiles during their eight-week basic training course, building a solid foundation for further specialized training in the next stage, the Executive Yuan’s administrative report issued this week said.
The report came on the heels of a Ministry of National Defense (MND) statement on Jan. 24 assuring the public that the first batch of conscripts serving a year of mandatory service after the program’s resumption on Jan. 1 last year would be adequately trained in all weapons platforms of note.
The statement was issued in response to a report by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) that said the army had only arranged for conscripts to train with Kestrel missiles — not Stinger or Javelin missiles as there was insufficient equipment or the equipment had not been delivered to the training bases.
Photo: Military News Agency via AP
The recruits were not trained to operate drones, the report added.
The ministry said that according to the Adjusted Plans to Strengthen National Defense Forces, some compulsory service members had been introduced to newer weapons platforms, including drones, last year.
It said it had also addressed issues where insufficient platforms resulted in fewer conscripts receiving such training than forecast, with the ministry ordering 400 additional Stinger missiles and the inauguration this month of its Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Training Center.
Dual-mount Stinger simulators — capable of training 12 people at a time — have been completed at the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, allowing soldiers and compulsory servicemen to be more familiar with the platform, it said.
Completing the first batch of compulsory service since the project’s resumption would help the military replenish its talent pool of non-commissioned officers, the ministry said.
The ministry estimated that about 1,800 conscripts, or about 30 percent of the total, have signed on for full-time service in the military.
Compulsory servicemen who completed their training today would boost the ranks of the reserve forces and help the government realize its whole-of-society defense policy, it said.
Army Lieutenant General Lee Jung-hua (李榮華), commander of the Tenth Field Army, on Wednesday visited the Chengkungling (成功嶺) camp to inspect equipment prepared for the training regimen.
The new equipment are highly efficient precision weapons that would test trainers’ ability not only to manage the equipment, but also teach conscripts how to operate it, Lee said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
Taiwan and its Pacific ally Tuvalu on Tuesday signed two accords aimed at facilitating bilateral cooperation on labor affairs, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). The governments inked two agreements in Taipei, witnessed by Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and visiting Deputy Tuvaluan Prime Minister Panapasi Nelesone, MOFA said in a news release. According to MOFA, the agreements will facilitate cooperation on labor issues and allow the two sides to mutually recognize seafarers’ certificates and related training. Taiwan would also continue to collaborate with Tuvalu across various fields to promote economic prosperity as well as the well-being of their
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office has continued its investigation into allegations of forged signatures in recall efforts today by searching the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) city chapter and questioning several personnel including the chapter director, according to media reports. Among those questioned and detained were KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), chapter secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿), chapter secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文) and first district committee executive director Tseng Fan-chuan (曾繁川). Prosecutors said they would not confirm reports about who had been summoned. The investigation centers on allegations that the ongoing recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party legislators Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤)
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed