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After the missile accident Taiwan is going to ramp up training and review procedures.

Taiwan ramps up training after deadly missile gaffe

Taiwan said on Wednesday that it was ramping up defence training and guidelines after a missile was accidentally launched towards China, killing one person and triggering a stern response from Beijing.

The Hsiung-feng III (Brave Wind) missile flew about 75 kilometres (45 miles) before hitting a trawler earlier this month in waters off Penghu, a Taiwanese-administered island group in the Taiwan Strait. It killed the boat's skipper and injured three crew on board.

The accident came at a time of deteriorating ties between the island and China, which insists self-ruling Taiwan is part of its territory even though the two sides split in 1949 after a civil war. It has not ruled out using force to bring about reunification.

The navy said the staff sergeant who launched the missile had mistakenly chosen "war mode" and "missile loading mode" during the practice drill.

"The incident caused a death and endangered ties with the mainland," Taiwan Defence Minister Feng Shih-kuan said in a statement posted Wednesday on social media.

"It also raised international concerns and upset the morale and honour of the military."

Feng said all units in charge of "precision weapons" must complete the new training by August 15.

The measures also call for improved operating guidelines to be implemented and a disciplinary code for relevant units.

Zhang Zhihjun, the head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, issued a warning in response to the accidental launch.

"At a time when the mainland repeatedly stressed it wants to sustain peaceful development of cross-strait ties...I felt the influence from the event could be very severe," he said.

Beijing mistrusts President Tsai Ing-Wen, whose Democratic Progressive Party replaced the China-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) party in government at the start of the year, and has warned her against any attempt at a breakaway.

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Franklin said:

After the missile accident Taiwan is going to ramp up training and review procedures.

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Something that FUBAR should never have happened, if it was really a misfire, because their official account made it looks like firing one of those AShM was as easy as a stage in Call of Duty.

So if they do going to revamp the training procedures and SOP on all levels, its long overdue, for their own sake as much as everyone else.

Any photos yet of the frigate Taiwan sent to Taiping recently in light of the ruling?

We've been hearing that Taiwan is going to send naval ship to patrol its Taiping island after the so-called tribunal. So far any ship sent?

flyzies said:

Any photos yet of the frigate Taiwan sent to Taiping recently in light of the ruling?

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Yes there are! From China Defense Blog:



“The mission of this voyage is to display Taiwan people’s resolve in defending the national interest,” Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan, said in a speech before the departure of the ship, a La Fayette-class frigate. The patrol had already been scheduled, but the ship’s departure was moved up a day after the tribunal’s announcement.

Ms. Tsai said the decision on Tuesday by the tribunal, which was established by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, had “gravely harmed” Taiwan’s rights in the South China Sea, which is also claimed in part by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

On paper, Taiwan and China make the same claims to the South China Sea. The so-called nine-dash line that Beijing uses to claim most of the sea is based on a map issued in the late 1940s by China’s then-Nationalist government, which fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong’s Communists. Since then, Beijing and the government in Taiwan — the Republic of China, as it is formally known — have based their claims on the line, which the tribunal concluded had no basis in law.

President Tsai did promised Uncle Sam to withdraw from SCS (back in 2015, during her visit to the US to get Uncle Sam's blessing) in conjunction to US policy of encircling Mainland China, so when will she make good of that promise? Taiwan have long been hoping to scale back the operation in SCS, and DPP have long been seeking to withdrew from SCS altogether, so such a ruling from PCA should be the perfect opportunity.

MwRYum said:

President Tsai did promised Uncle Sam to withdraw from SCS (back in 2015, during her visit to the US to get Uncle Sam's blessing) in conjunction to US policy of encircling Mainland China, so when will she make good of that promise? Taiwan have long been hoping to scale back the operation in SCS, and DPP have long been seeking to withdrew from SCS altogether, so such a ruling from PCA should be the perfect opportunity.

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Taiwan's withdraw would be seen by the mainland as another move of secession/breakaway, same as the previous act of renouncing sovereign claim over mainland by DPP (legally shrink ROC to only on Taiwan), or the constitution amendment of Li Denhui to defunct Taiwan and Fujian provincial government.

She may choose to withdraw from Taiping to please Uncle Sam, but Beijing is legally capable (based on laws on both sides) and willing to take over Taiping afterwards. Actually that will be preferred by Beijing, suddenly Beijing has a well established island for free.

MwRYum said:

President Tsai did promised Uncle Sam to withdraw from SCS (back in 2015, during her visit to the US to get Uncle Sam's blessing) in conjunction to US policy of encircling Mainland China, so when will she make good of that promise? Taiwan have long been hoping to scale back the operation in SCS, and DPP have long been seeking to withdrew from SCS altogether, so such a ruling from PCA should be the perfect opportunity.

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On the contrary, the ruling from PCA by reducing Itu Aba Island's status to a rock would actually shift Taiwan's current government and DPP more closer in line with KMT in SCS. Taiwan doesn't care much about 9-Dash-Line or 11-Dash-Line as a matter of fact. The only real valuable asset and bargaining chip for Taiwan in the Spratly Islands is the Itu Aba Island. PCA, by unilateral declaring all islands in the Spratly Islands chain not meeting the requirement of island status, and thus reducing Itu Aba Island's EEZ right from 200 nm to 12 nm created massive uproar within Taiwan and united both KMT and DDP on this issue.

Tsai's government didn't anticipate this ruling regarding Itu Aba Island because Itu Aba Island's maritime status wasn't even on the Philippine's original 15 pleas to PCA. According to Taiwanese media, after the ruling, the presidential office had to ditch the original prepared speech and scrambled to rewrite a new speech, and immediately announced of sending a warship to Itu Aba Island to protect Taiwan's right and Taiwanese fishermen. So this unexpected bombshell might actually shift Tsai's policy and DPP's intention regarding SCS. If PCA's ruling didn't involve Itu Aba Island, Tsai's government and DDP might just take a lay back position but now they can't.

MwRYum said:

President Tsai did promised Uncle Sam to withdraw from SCS

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Officially, or was that speculated? It doesn't gain Tsai or Taiwan anything, and leaving Taiping Island doesn't help the US either - China could just occupy it.

Mr T said:

Officially, or was that speculated? It doesn't gain Tsai or Taiwan anything, and leaving Taiping Island doesn't help the US either - China could just occupy it.

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Nothing of this sort can be officially stated. A sovereign (as ROC claimed to be) state subjects her domestic affairs to a foreign power's dictation?

However, this idea is an open secret covered by Taiwan's media. What I read was Taiwan to withdraw Naval personals from Taiping and replace with civil administration, coat guard or something else. The idea was not new, been floating for some time since the late KMT administration, but speculated to be on the agenda of Tsai's visit to US.

The withdraw in the MwRYum's post can not be interpreted as withdraw of sovereignty of ROC as that need sort of amendment to ROC constitution, but more accurately withdraw of military presence in SCS. However, that withdraw will give China a good reason to take over it if Taiping is under the threat of being attacked or occupied by a third country, and what constitute that threat is solely the judgement of Beijing.

Tsai would "gain" a lot from US, something similar like what Japan, SK and Philippine got, what ever that may be.

It is a surprise that Taiping is dragged into the stage as Philippine's plea did not involve "Taiping being an island or not". So I'd guess it is more of an US idea, who else can it be? If it is US idea, US must have a reason, therefor Tsai's accommodation being helpful to US.

So the root of the whole helpfulness is what US want from "Taiping being a rock". We know Taiping is the largest land feature in SCS, if it is a rock, nothing is an island, no feature in SCS can have any rights outside of 12NM such as EEZ (which owner countries still have some exclusive rights). In that case, US will have much more water to exercise "Free Navigation". Essentially SCS will become just like the open Pacific ocean. That is what US wants.

Taiwan's military withdraw from Taiping will also serve US's call of "non-militarization of SCS" if ROC follows the call, another benefit to US. After that, Vietnam will be called on, then China being the only "bad" guy. But I doubt if Vietnam will comply. In a dream world, US want no countries with soldiers on those "island/rocks", but only US navy cruising around in SCS.

My belief is as always that, the whole farce was and is never about what Philippine put in the plea, it is only about US Navy cruising freely in SCS to check China's marintime life line and SSBN. Philippine is just an cannon fodder in this farce.