(Central News Agency reporter Lin Jingyin, Taipei, 20th) According to media reports, 80,000 sets of active military combat equipment and 1,000 M240B platoon machine guns have recently arrived in Taiwan. Defense Minister Qiu Guozheng said in an interview today that exchanges with the United States are quite ordinary. Military equipment is also one of the exchange projects, but it is not convenient to disclose the equipment items, quantities and product names.
The Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuan today reviewed the draft “Regulations on Security Maintenance of Military Camps”. Qiu Guozheng made the above remarks in an interview before the meeting.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a meeting recently. According to media reports, U.S. officials revealed that Xi Jinping denied any so-called plans to attack Taiwan with force in 2027 or 2035. Although Xinhua News Agency reported after the meeting that Xi Jinping asked the United States to stop arming Taiwan during the meeting, U.S. Defense Secretary Austin reiterated the U.S. commitment to accelerate the provision of weapons to Taiwan after visiting Xi.
Qiu Guozheng said in this regard that the national army’s military build-up and preparation for war will not shift its target to 2023, 2025, 2026, 2027 or 2035 just because of someone’s words. Army-building and war preparation will not stop, but they must be calm and pay attention at all times. There are no signs of the CCP. If there are signs, of course we must be more vigilant. So far, everything is under control and we do not expect any war to occur. The main purpose of the national army’s military build-up and preparation for war is to avoid war, but it is not to avoid war, but to avoid the occurrence of war. This is what the Ministry of National Defense has always done.
Regarding media reports, in the past half month, a number of military equipment have been arriving at Taoyuan International Airport one after another. It was also pointed out that the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) specifically requires that military charter flights carrying military equipment must be moved to a private location when unloading at Taoyuan Airport.
Qiu Guozheng said that exchanges between Taiwan and the United States are quite ordinary. Whether it is video calls, observation, study tours, etc., many Ministry of National Defense personnel have the opportunity to go to the United States, which is one of the exchange projects. As for the military equipment part, it is also one of the exchange projects. The relevant quantities, items, and product names “cannot be disclosed”, but the work continues, and there is no intention to deliberately arm them. They are all normal exchange projects, and may be suspected by the outside world at this time. , in fact, some arms procurement or military issues are operating normally.
Regarding the draft regulations on security maintenance of military camps, military fans have wondered whether it will be impossible to film fighter planes taking off and landing at the end of the runway of military airports as in the past. Qiu Guozheng said that the Ministry of National Defense drafted this draft to maintain the security of camps and would be harmful to military camps. Of course, we must fulfill our duty to protect ourselves, and we must clearly define the definition. We are not arresting people just for taking pictures. The guns are not aimed at ordinary people, so there will be no chaos. As long as there is no harmful action against the military, there will be no restrictions on what the people should do. If there are safety concerns about an action, we will use normal and reasonable methods to find the military police and the police to do it in accordance with the laws and regulations. It will not become an intervention and we will try to avoid such actions. (Editor: Su Longqi) 1121120
