Day: February 16, 2023

The Navy on Thursday held a launch ceremony in Yilan County for its third domestically built Tuo Chiang-class corvette, naming it the “Hsu Chiang” after a river in Keelung.

The Tuo Chiang-class corvette is a class of Taiwanese-designed fast and stealthy multi-purpose corvette built by Lungteh Shipbuilding Co. for the Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy.

A prototype of the corvette named Tuo Chiang (PGG-618) was first commissioned in 2015. Meanwhile, the first full version of the Tuo Chiang-class corvette, the Ta Chiang, was launched in December 2020 and the second one, the Fu Chiang, in September last year.

According to the military, the Hsu Chiang corvette is named after the Hsuchuan River in Keelung.

The Navy is set to build a total of 11 Tuo Chiang-class corvettes by the end of 2026.

Based on a recent Ministry of National Defense report presented to the Legislative Yuan, aside from the prototype, five of the Tuo Chiang-class corvettes will be fitted with eight subsonic Hsiung Feng-II missiles and four supersonic Hsiung Feng-III anti-ship missiles, while the other five warships will come with four Hsiung Feng-IIs and eight Hsiung Feng-IIIs.

That configuration will help meet the operational needs of the Navy, the report said.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

In a reversal of a statement that made headline news in Chinese-language speaking communities around the world, the former agent of Taiwanese entertainment icon Liu Wen-cheng (???) said on Thursday that the reclusive star is not dead as he stated a day earlier.

Xia Yu-shun (???), Liu’s former agent, said on Wednesday that Liu died at home in Las Vegas after suffering a heart attack in November last year aged 69.

Netizens in Taiwan and China took to social media websites to express their condolences on learning of the news.

However, speaking with CNA by telephone, Xia on Thursday said he had put out incorrect information by “going along with” rumors originating in China about Liu having died, so as to respect the artist’s desire to “have a peaceful life.”

On Wednesday Xia told CNA that veteran singer Jenny Tseng (??) told him of Liu’s death in December last year and that he had confirmed the news with Liu’s brother-in-law.

“He is alive and well,” Xia told CNA in the telephone interview on Thursday.

According to Xia on Thursday, Liu did have a heart attack last year, but was revived after receiving treatment.

After the news about Liu’s “death” broke, Xia said he received a phone call from the star asking him to correct his statement.

“He wanted fans to feel safe in the knowledge that he is still alive and well. He didn’t want to leave them heartbroken,” Xia said.

According to Xia, Liu wishes to stay out of the public eye for the rest of his life so people will remember him as he was in his prime.

Meanwhile, the World Journal, a U.S.-based Chinese-language newspaper, in an exclusive story published on Wednesday quoted one of Liu’s aunts, Lily Lee Levin (???), as saying that the star was alive.

However, Levin turned down a request to have Liu send fans a recorded audio message, asking only that they believe he is still alive and does not want to be bothered, according to the World Journal report.

CNA was unable to reach any of Liu’s relatives for comment as of press time.

Liu, often dubbed Taiwan’s “first pop idol,” rose to superstardom with his first album, “Promise (??),” in 1975. He went on to release 31 more albums from 1975 to 1984, which produced many hit singles.

From 1979 to 2018, Liu won 18 music awards in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, including two Golden Bell Awards in Taiwan for “best male actor/singer.”

He also starred in 23 movies, including “The Story of Four Girls (????),” which solidified his status as prince charming to Taiwanese teens from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s.

Liu fully retired from the entertainment industry in 1991 and took up residence in the U.S, where, according to Xia, he dabbles in real estate and remains in touch with only a handful of friends in the Taiwanese entertainment industry.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

Taiwan’s military found the wreckage of a suspected Chinese weather balloon on one of its offshore frontline islets near China early on Thursday.

In a press release, the Army’s Dongyin Area Command which is responsible for guarding Dongyin islet, part of the Matsu archipelago governed by Lienchiang County in the Republic of China (Taiwan), said solders found the wreckage of a suspected weather balloon believed to have originated in China earlier in the day.

The islet located about 40km from China’s Fujian Province is one of the closest Taiwan-controlled territories to China.

The suspected balloon, with a one meter diameter and the simplified Chinese characters “Taiyuan No. 1 Radio Factory,” “GTS13 Radiosonde” and “Meteorological Instrument” written on it, was found at about 11 a.m. Thursday at a shooting range, the command said.

An initial probe has concluded that the suspected weather balloon came from China with the Army set to further examine the wreckage, according to the press release.

Taiwan uses complex or traditional Chinese characters, while China uses simplified Chinese characters.

Meanwhile, Taiyuan No. 1 Radio Factory based in Taiyuan City, the capital of Shanxi Province, manufactures mechanical and weather instruments, according to information available online.

The finding was made after Taiwan’s military said on Tuesday that Chinese balloons detected in Taiwan’s airspace to date have been weather balloons and did not pose a security threat that would require them to be shot down.

Alleged Chinese balloon programs have drawn global attention after a suspected Chinese spy balloon was spotted and shot down by the United States on Feb. 4 in American airspace.

The incident also led to a diplomatic crisis, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling off a trip to China.

However, Beijing has denied that the balloon was used for spying and claims it was a civilian airship blown off course.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel