A Chinese civilian aircraft flying near Lienchiang County’s Dongyin Island (東引) earlier this month was likely meant as a provocation or a test of Taiwan’s combat readiness, military officials said on Tuesday.
Ministry of National Defense (MND) spokesman Shih Shun-wen (史順文) told a news conference that the military could not rule out that China tried to test whether Taiwan would respond to the flyby.
“Whether it was meant as a provocation or a test, the nation’s armed forces are always ready and have prepared contingencies for all kinds of scenarios,” he said.
The Feb. 5 flight was confirmed by the ministry a day
The military needs to finish preparations before testing its new landing platform dock with helicopters, it said yesterday.
Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major General Shih Shun-wen (史順文) said that the military would first assess the differences between helicopters deployed by each branch of the armed forces before preparing drills, without elaborating.
Shih made the remarks after the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee last month adopted a nonbinding resolution asking the ministry to have the army, navy and air force conduct landing and takeoff drills with helicopters on the domestically developed ROCN <i>Yushan</i> (玉山).
The <i>Yushan</i> is the first of four
With Lithuania recalling its last diplomats from China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged the public and businesses to support Lithuanian products, and listed ways to boost bilateral economic ties.
“Lithuania’s Charge d’ Affaires ad interim in China Audra Ciapiene returns to Vilnius for consultations,” the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday.
“In the absence of a substitute diplomat in Beijing, the Lithuanian Embassy to China will continue its operations remotely,” it added.
“Lithuania is ready to continue the dialogue with China and restore the functions of the embassy to their full extent once a mutually
SECURITY: MOFA also thanked the US Congress for passing the National Defense Authorization Act for Taiwan to maintain self-sufficient defense capabilitiesBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
The Ministry of National Defense is next year to start trialing a new model of reservist training, which would last for three sessions before the ministry launches a review and assessment of the scheme, an official said yesterday.
Tao Cheng-juei (陶成濬), deputy director of the ministry’s mobilization management division, said that reservist training under the new model would be yearly, lasting 14 days.
The military expects to train 15,000 reservists per year, he added.
Each session, which would take twice as long as the previous method, and count as two sessions for a reservist, he said.
Reservists who completed their mandatory service within eight