Island navy criticized for missile firing

A fatal incident in which a missile was accidentally fired shows that Taiwan's military is plagued by mismanagement and inadequate training, according to mainland observers.

On Friday morning, a fisherman was killed and three others were injured after their boat was hit by a Hsiung Feng III missile fired by a Taiwan navy corvette from Zuoying Harbor in Kaohsiung.

The incident was caused by what the island's military said after an initial investigation was human error by officers on the Chinchiang corvette.

On Monday, the Taiwan navy released a detailed timeline of the events that took place on Friday morning. It also dismissed online speculation in Taiwan that the incident involved a conspiracy.

The navy said it has transferred four officers from the Chinchiang to prosecutors in Kaohsiung for investigation.

Gao Zhuo, a military observer in Beijing, said the incident indicates that the Taiwan military is in a very bad condition.

"Normally, there are strict procedures regarding the use and launch of a missile in any military, and the Taiwan military should also have such procedures. But the fact that a large missile was misfired shows these procedures were poorly executed and officers' orders had little authority," he said.

Gao said the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile, misfired in the incident, is not as good as the Taiwan military has claimed. "The missile's technological capability is equivalent to that of missiles developed in the 1980s such as our HY-3 supersonic anti-ship missile, and is far below the level of a really top weapon," he said.

Ni Yongjie, deputy director of the Shanghai Institute of Taiwan Studies, said, "The incident represents a host of problems within Taiwan's military, such as loose management, low level of training and the incompetence of some of its officers and soldiers."

Discussing the incident's impact on cross-Straits relations, Ni said the communication mechanism between the two sides stopped functioning after Taiwan's new leader Tsai Ingwen took office in May.

zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn