Taiwan Sets Up Elite Unit to Protect President Amid China Invasion Fears

The National Interest
Date: January 2, 2018
By: Asia Times

Taiwan has ratcheted up protection for President Tsai Ing-wen after China staged a military drill late last year that included a mock assault on a full-scale replica of Taiwan’s Presidential Palace.

The exercise, at a training base in Inner Mongolia in August, featured Chinese troops entering streets from the Bo’ai Special Zone in Taipei. News of the drill was revealed by Beijing’s state-owned China Central TV.

Given what appears like aggressive psychological warfare, it is hardly surprising that President Tsai’s security detail has been ramped up – with new recruits from the island’s special duty troops and the purchase of a brand-new bullet- and blast-proof Audi sedan last year.

A new security battalion commenced operation this week to guard the Bo’ai Special Zone in Taipei – a buffer zone in the capital where Tsai lives and works, which includes the Presidential Palace, Executive Yuan and Judicial Yuan, plus numerous departments and key ministries such as Foreign Affairs and National Defense.    [FULL  STORY]