NAVY HAS NEVER CONDUCTED DRILLS IN FOREIGN TERRITORIAL WATERS
ROC Central News Agency
2006-08-23 12:43:39
Taipei, Aug. 23 (CNA) The Republic of China Navy has never conducted training exercises in other countries' territorial waters, a military official said Wednesday.
Vice Adm. Sun Yi-cheng, director of the political warfare department at the Navy Command Headquarters, made the remarks in response to media reports that Okinawa officials have asked the Japanese central government to push Taiwan to stop naval drills in waters near Yonaguni, one of Okinawa's outlying islands.
According to the reports, the ROC Navy announced on the Internet that it would conduct training exercises in airspace and waters west of Yonaguni Island Aug. 3, Aug. 8 and Aug. 11. The reports said the Japanese Foreign Ministry had asked Taiwan through the Japanese Interchange Association (JIA) to change its military exercise location. The JIA is a quasi-official body auhtorized to handle exchanges with Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic ties.
The reports said Japanese authorities didn't confirm whether the ROC Navy conducted another round of exercises in the area on Aug. 15, Aug.18 and Aug. 22 as scheduled. The reports instead quoted Japanese Foreign Ministry officials as saying that Taiwan should have informed Japan in advance of its military training plans near Yonaguni Island.
In response, Sun said that since the Navy is unlikely to enter any foreign country's territorial waters, it need not serve a prior notice to any neighboring country about its military training plans.
Moreover, Sun said, the Navy has invariably declared its training schedules and exact locations with sufficient explanations plus graphics and illustrations. "Questions raised by Japanese authorities might arise from misreading our vector graphics," he added.
(By Sofia Wu)
enditem/Li
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