Author: admin

Lithuania “stands firm” on its decision to allow the opening of a “Taiwanese representative office,” a government spokesperson told CNA Wednesday, a day after the Baltic state’s president criticized the move that has led to sanctions by China.

“We look forward to developing our relations with Taiwan in the areas of business, science and technology and culture, and to more contacts between Lithuanian and Taiwanese people, who are bound together by common values and vibrant and open societies based on innovation,” Vytaute Šmaižyte-Kuliešiene, spokeswoman for the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told CNA.

“The Lithuanian government stands firm on its decision to welcome the opening of the Taiwanese representative office,” she said, when asked to comment on Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda’s remarks Tuesday that there was nothing wrong with agreeing to the establishment of a Taiwan office in the capital Vilnius last November, but the problem was the official name — The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania.

“Support for democracy and human rights as universal values was part of the coalition agreement and makes up an important part of the government program of Lithuania,” Šmaižyte-Kuliešiene said.

In a radio interview the previous day, Nauseda said the name of the office had become a crucial issue that was strongly affecting his country’s relations with China.

“I believe the name was the spark, and now we have to deal with the consequences,” he said.

According to three experts on the issue, Nauseda’s comments were a reflection of an internal power struggle over domestic politics rather than any change in his country’s policy towards Taiwan.

Nauseda’s position on the Taiwan representative office issue was opposed by Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, speaker of the Lithuanian parliament, who said Tuesday that she did not think the decision was a mistake.

Head of the Lithuanian parliament’s Taiwan friendship group Matas Maldeikis, who visited Taiwan late last year, also disagreed with Nauseda.

“I think supporting democracy in Taiwan is the right thing to do, even if it’s hard,” Maldeikis tweeted Tuesday. “The Lithuanian president, like me, should be proud to serve the country that stood up to the threats of the Chinese Communist Party,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, Eric Huang (???), head of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, announced Wednesday that Taiwan will create a US$200 million fund to invest in Lithuanian industries.

The strategic investment plan will be funded by Taiwan’s national development fund and backed by the Taiwan central bank, Huang announced at an online press event in Lithuania.

Taiwan’s representative offices in other countries with which it does not have official diplomatic relations usually use “Taipei” in their official names.

Beijing, which claims that Taiwan and mainland China are part of the same country, has sought to impose a cost on Lithuania for its decision to allow the opening of the Taiwanese Representative Office there, as China sees that move as implying Taiwan’s formal independence.

China’s recent retaliatory actions have included recalling its ambassador to Lithuania and expelling the Lithuanian ambassador from Beijing, as well as suspending direct freight train services to the Baltic state and banning Lithuanian products from entering the Chinese market.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

A government geological survey has discovered three new active faults in Taiwan, bringing the total number of faults on the earthquake-prone island to 36.

A previous study in 2012 had recorded a total of 33 faults across Taiwan.

The three newly discovered active faults are situated in Nantou County, Tainan, and Kaohsiung, according to survey results released by the Central Geological Survey (CGS) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Tuesday.

The CGS defines an active fault as a fault — a crack in the earth’s surface where the rock has divided into two parts that move against each other — that has moved within the last 100,000 years and could possibly move again in the future.

According to the CGS, the last time the 20-kilometer Chuxiang Fault in Nantou County underwent displacement was 13,500 years ago. The 21 km-long Kuoxiaoli Fault in Tainan was last displaced 12,670 years ago, while the 25km-long Chegualin Fault in Kaohsiung last moved 7,500 years ago.

Due to evidence of movement within the last 100,000 years and with all three faults exceeding 5 km in length, the CGS said that the trio had been added to the list of active faults in Taiwan.

The CGS published a graphic showing the locations of Taiwan’s 36 active faults, which it said could be used as a reference for land management, reviewing land development, disaster prevention and control, and designing earthquake-resistant buildings.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

Taiwan’s newly-commissioned F-16Vs performed an “elephant walk” at Chiayi Air Base for the first time on Wednesday, to demonstrate the Air Force’s capability to launch combat-ready fighters at a moment’s notice.

During the exercise, a total of 12 F-16Vs lined up down the runway for a public demonstration open to members of the media.

The 12 fighters were part of the newly-commissioned F-16V combat squadron listed under the Air Force’s 4th Tactical Fighter Wing based in Chiayi County, southern Taiwan, in November 2021.

The F-16Vs are former F-16A/Bs upgraded as part of a program launched by the Air Force in 2016.

The program included the retrofitting of 141 F-16 A/Bs into F-16Vs, which are equipped with more advanced avionics, including APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar, a Helmet Mounted Cueing System, and other flight management and electronic warfare systems.

According to the Air Force, an “elephant walk” is a U.S. Air Force term for the taxiing of military aircraft right before takeoff, when they are in close formation.

The term dates back to World War II when large fleets of allied bombers would conduct attacks in missions containing large numbers of aircraft.

The maneuver is now performed to show the capability of the units, as well as teamwork, and is often used to prepare pilots for the launching of fully armed aircraft in on masse, according to Taiwan’s Air Force.

Following the “elephant walk,” Major Yen hsiang-sheng (???), one of the F-16V pilots, also showcased a high-tech helmet he used that uses the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS).

According to Yen, the JHMCS provides the pilot with “first look, first shoot” high off-boresight weapons engagement capabilities.

The system enables the pilot to acquire critical information, such as targeting cues and aircraft performance parameters displayed directly on the pilot’s visor, without the need to check the Head-Up Display (HUD) as they used to, Yen said.

According to the Air Force, a high-tech helmet installed with the cutting edge system costs NT$10 million (US$362,233).

Wednesday’s drill was part of a three-day public demonstration open to the media to show Taiwan’s combat readiness prior to the Lunar New Year long-break at the end of this month.

The drill was held as tensions across the Taiwan Strait have increased over the past few years, with Chinese military aircraft making almost daily incursions into the southwestern part of the nation’s Air Defense Identification Zone and Taiwan’s Air Force sending aircraft to intercept them.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel