TAIPEI: Taiwan’s military released an updated civil defense handbook on Tuesday that for the first time includes a section on how to tell the difference between Chinese and Taiwanese soldiers based on their uniforms, camouflage and insignia.
Taiwan unveiled the handbook last year amid a rise in tensions with Beijing and after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, detailing how to find bomb shelters, water and food supplies via smartphone apps, as well as tips for preparing emergency first aid kits.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said they received feedback that the book needed to better reflect war scenarios, given the conflict in Ukraine, which Russia calls a “special operation.”
One of the changes includes illustrations of Taiwanese service personnel and “enemy soldiers” wearing Chinese military uniforms.
The Taiwanese soldiers are shown smiling, whereas the Chinese ones have downturned mouths and a severe expression.
“It’s actually quite hard to distinguish them,” All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency Director Shen Wei-chih told reporters at the defense ministry.
The booklet assumes Chinese soldiers will wear People’s Liberation Army uniforms; experts say special forces troops may wear different gear as they try to infiltrate Taiwan during an invasion.
Taiwan’s emergency personnel, including police and first responders, are also shown in the new handbook, which will be available for download.
The agency is working on an English translation, Shen said.
Planning for the handbook predates Russia’s attack on its neighbor, which has prompted debate on its implications for Taiwan and ways to boost preparedness, such as reforms to the reservist training and extending military service.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory despite Taipei’s strong objections and has ramped up military and political pressure over the past three years to push those sovereignty claims.
Taiwan has also been inspecting bomb shelters to make sure they are suitable and updating signs to make them easier to find; markers may eventually include flashing lights, officials said at the same news conference.
Taiwan civil defense handbook includes tips on identifying Chinese soldiers
https://arab.news/njq8g
Taiwan civil defense handbook includes tips on identifying Chinese soldiers
- Taiwan unveiled the handbook last year amid a rise in tensions with Beijing
- Booklet assumes Chinese soldiers will wear People’s Liberation Army uniforms
South Sudan orders UN personnel to leave parts of Jonglei state
- The military said all civilians living in Nyirol, Uror, and Akobo counties in Jonglei were “directed to immediately evacuate for safety to government-controlled areas as soon as possible”
JUBA: South Sudan’s military has ordered all civilians and personnel from the UN mission and all other charities to evacuate three counties in Jonglei state ahead of an operation there against opposition forces.
Clashes that the UN says are occurring at a scale not seen since 2017 have been convulsing South Sudan, Africa’s youngest country, for months.
Some of the fiercest fighting has taken place in Jonglei, located in the country’s east on the border with Ethiopia, where the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces, or SSPDF, is seeking to halt an offensive by fighters loyal to the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in-Opposition, or SPLA-IO.
An operation code-named “Operation Enduring Peace” was “imminent,” the SSPDF said in a statement.
The military said all civilians living in Nyirol, Uror, and Akobo counties in Jonglei were “directed to immediately evacuate for safety to government-controlled areas as soon as possible.”
All personnel from the UN Mission in South Sudan and those working for nongovernmental organizations were also ordered to evacuate the three counties within 48 hours.
“Our peacekeepers in Akobo remain in place, carrying out all efforts under our mandate to help de-escalate tensions and prevent conflict,” a UNMISS spokesperson said.
She did not say whether UN staff also remained in the other countries.
Last week, SPLA-IO called on its forces to march on South Sudan’s capital, Juba, signalling a major escalation. Earlier this month, SPLA-IO forces seized the town of Pajut in heavy fighting in the north of Jonglei, and the town’s capture was seen as putting the state capital of Bor at risk.
In a statement, UNMISS said 180,000 people in the state had already been displaced by the conflict and urged South Sudan’s leaders “to put the interests of their people first by stopping the fighting.”
Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontières, or MSF, said in a statement on Sunday it had evacuated key staff from Akobo county after “clear instruction from the relevant authorities, and in response to the deteriorating security situation in the area.”
SPLA-IO forces led by South Sudan’s vice president Riek Machar battled the military in the 2013-18 civil war, which was fought along largely ethnic lines and killed about 400,000 people.
A peace deal in 2018 quieted the conflict, although localized clashes have persisted.
