ELECTORAL BOOST: A legislator said that Washington publicized potential military drills in the Strait to help the Republicans and the DPP in next month’s elections
Taipei Times
Date: Oct 10, 2018
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter
The Ministry of National Defense has not received intelligence that the US Pacific Fleet’s
From left, Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa, Premier William Lai, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu and Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chen Ming-tong on Friday last week attend a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. Photo: CNA
proposal to stage a “global show of force” would include a military drill in the Taiwan Strait, Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) said yesterday.
Yen made the remark at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei in response to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao’s (賴士葆) question whether Washington has verified plans to conduct military drills in the Strait.
CNN on Thursday last week reported that the US Pacific Fleet is planning to conduct a series of naval operations to warn China that the US is prepared to counter its military activities in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
“The US has not made any comments on such allegations,” Yen said, adding that the show of force “would not necessarily be a military drill.” [FULL STORY]
