The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it was closely monitoring the movements of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) near Taiwan, after the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning was spotted in waters off Taiwan, amid reports of potential upcoming military drills.
Colonel Hu Chung-hua (胡中華), an intelligence officer at the ministry’s Office of Deputy Chief of General Staff for Intelligence, said the Liaoning was in the waters off Taiwan proper’s southeast coast, but did not reveal how close the aircraft carrier was.
The armed forces are closely monitoring the situation with joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, and have deployed forces in response — regardless of whether the PLA plans to launch new military drills, he said.
Photo: Reuters
The ministry “anticipates the enemy as broadly as possible and defends against the enemy strictly. We also carefully evaluate and act accordingly,” Hu said.
Colonel Su Tung-wei (蘇統偉), deputy head of the ministry’s General Staff Operations and Planning Department, said the armed forces were constantly evaluating threat levels posed by the PLA to consider whether to “activate a response center, or to increase our defense readiness to perform an immediate readiness drill.”
“We will also react accordingly to safeguard national security,” Su said.
The two senior officials made the remarks at a regular news conference at the ministry, in response to a question about reports that the PLA could soon launch military exercises near Taiwan, with the Liaoning approaching the country.
Multiple local news outlets on Tuesday reported that the Liaoning was heading to the western Pacific east of Taiwan and could conduct military exercises there later this week during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday from tomorrow to Sunday.
In addition, the ministry said that 41 PLA aircraft and vessels were detected around Taiwan between 6am on Tuesday and 6am yesterday.
Among them, 22 Chinese naval vessels were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait during this period, it said.
While China sends military aircraft, ships and spy balloons near Taiwan as part of a campaign of daily harassment, special attention has been given this week to the location of the Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, the hull of which was bought from Ukraine and then fitted out by China more than a decade ago.
China has two aircraft carriers including the Liaoning, with a third undergoing sea trials and a fourth under construction.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense on Sunday announced that the Liaoning was spotted in the East China Sea near the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) — known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan — conducting fighter jet takeoff and landing drills from the carrier.
It was the first time Japan had detected takeoffs and landings of fighter jets from a Chinese aircraft carrier sailing in the East China Sea, the Japanese ministry said.
In Beijing, asked during a regular news conference why the Chinese aircraft carrier was so close to Japan and whether China was sending a signal to Taiwan, Japan and the US, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning (毛寧) said: “What I can tell you is that the activities of the Chinese warship in the relevant waters are fully in line with international law and the basic norms of international relations.”
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