Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

FIGHTERS ON COMBAT TRAINING, NOT ESCORTING FRIGATE MISSION

Central News Agency

2005-06-21 17:50:17

    Taipei, June 21 (CNA) An official of the Hualien Air Base said Tuesday that several fighters were on combat training flights when a Knox-class frigate set sail carrying Minister of National Defense Lee Jye, Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng and several legislators to a disputed area northeast of Taiwan.

    Yang Chi-yuan, deputy head of the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing, stressed that whether the fighters were escorting the frigate for safety reasons was secret, and he couldn't comment on it.

    But he said that the eight F-16 fighters and one anti-submarine plane from the ROC Navy were in the air at the time for routine combat training flights.

    Wang boarded the 4,200-ton frigate -- the "Fengyang" -- earlier in the day to inspect the ROC Navy's patrol missions off Taiwan's east coast and how it assists in protecting local fishermen operating in the disputed northeastern economic waters.

    The area in dispute refers to waters close to a group of uninhabited islets known as the Tiaoyutais in Taiwan and the Senkakus in Japan. The island group is claimed by Taiwan, China and Japan.

(By Lilian Wu)

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