Chinese drone incursions defined as 'first strike' against Taiwan: Minister
ROC Central News Agency
10/11/2022 08:30 PM
Taipei, Oct. 11 (CNA) Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) on Tuesday updated the nation's definition of a "first strike" against Taiwan by including incursions by Chinese drones into the territorial airspace of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
During an interpellation session at the Legislative Yuan, Chiu told lawmakers that further clarification is necessary amid the growing frequency of incursions by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from China.
In the past, Taiwan defined a first strike as a missile or artillery attack, but the increasing frequency with which Chinese UAVs fly into ROC territorial airspace has been causing "a lot of trouble," he explained.
A nation's territorial airspace refers to the area above and around its territory, extending 12 nautical miles from the coastline.
The ROC-controlled offshore islands of Kinmen and Matsu are several kilometers from the coastline of China.
The issue was first brought up on Oct. 5, when Chiu stated that the flying of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) fighter jets into Taiwan's territorial airspace would be considered a "first strike" against the nation.
However, at the time he did not elaborate on what the countermeasures would be in the event of such a "first strike," a position he maintained on Tuesday regarding the drones.
Meanwhile, Chiu was also asked by lawmakers what he plans to do about conscription, following his remarks in March that the defense ministry will present an evaluation report this year on whether to extend the existing four-month mandatory military training for conscripts.
The issue is still being discussed, he told lawmakers without elaborating.
All Taiwanese men over 18 initially had to serve two to three years in the military as part of a conscription system adopted by the ROC government after it relocated to Taiwan in 1949 following the Chinese Civil War.
After 1996, conscription was gradually reduced and became one year in duration in 2008.
During the previous Kuomintang administration under President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), which governed from 2008-2016, the government turned the nation's military into a voluntary force in which conscripts are only required to undergo four months of military training, starting in 2013.
Earlier Tuesday, Chiu told reporters that the situation between Taiwan and China is more tense than it has ever been in all his years of service in the military.
His assessment came in response to a comment by former Legislator Julian Kuo (郭正亮) on President Tsai Ing-wen's National Day speech the previous day that "the two sides are now on the verge of war."
Though he refused to directly comment on Kuo's statement, the 69-year-old Chiu said the cross-strait situation was indeed serious, and at a degree of seriousness unprecedented in his many years in the military.
Chiu was also asked about a comment by China's State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) that Tsai's speech "played up the threat from the mainland."
He said the military would not comment directly on Ma's statement, but would state the facts, which are that since early August China has carried out joint military drills much more frequently than before.
To date, China has not halted its military maneuvers near the Taiwan Strait, Chiu said, noting that many types of Chinese fighter jets and warships continue to appear in waters close to the Taiwan Strait.
"If China thinks this is not provocation, I wonder what can be called provocation," he argued.
Chiu further said that Taiwan's military has been working hard to avoid heightening tensions in the Taiwan Strait, but doubted that the PLA would do the same, citing sorties of more than 20 Chinese warplanes flying close to Taiwan on Monday.
In her National Day speech on Monday, President Tsai said her administration was "willing to work with Beijing authorities to find a mutual arrangement to uphold peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," provided that negotiations are conducted with "rationality, equality and mutuality."
(By Wang Cheng-chung, Elizabeth Hsu and Ko Lin)
Enditem/ls/AW
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