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| Taiwan's military chief missing after helicopter crash landing | Taiwan's military chief missing after helicopter crash landing |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Air force general Shen Yi-ming, the island’s chief of general staff, was on board the aircraft that went down near Taipei | |
| Taiwan’s most senior military official has been reported missing after a helicopter made an emergency landing, the island’s defence ministry said on Thursday. | Taiwan’s most senior military official has been reported missing after a helicopter made an emergency landing, the island’s defence ministry said on Thursday. |
| Thirteen people were on board the military Black Hawk helicopter, the ministry said, when it was forced to land in mountains near the capital Taipei for unknown reasons. | Thirteen people were on board the military Black Hawk helicopter, the ministry said, when it was forced to land in mountains near the capital Taipei for unknown reasons. |
| But while there were survivors, three people were still missing including the air force general Shen Yi-ming, the island’s chief of the general staff. Also reportedly on board were the deputy director of the political and war bureau, Yu Qinwen, and the deputy minister of finance, Jiang Youmin. | |
| “Some crew are still trapped inside, while some have come out,” a military spokesman told a news conference broadcast live on television. Further details would not be available until troops reached the area of the crash. | |
| The UH-60M helicopter had been taking off for a routine mission to visit soldiers in the north-east Yilan county ahead of the lunar new year, the ministry said in a statement. | The UH-60M helicopter had been taking off for a routine mission to visit soldiers in the north-east Yilan county ahead of the lunar new year, the ministry said in a statement. |
| The incident comes ahead of Taiwan’s general election on 11 January which is seen as a referendum on relations with Beijing, where authorities sees the island as a breakaway province that must be brought back under its control. | The incident comes ahead of Taiwan’s general election on 11 January which is seen as a referendum on relations with Beijing, where authorities sees the island as a breakaway province that must be brought back under its control. |
| The incumbent president, Tsai Ing-Wen of the Democratic Progressive party (DPP), under whom ties with Beijing have become fraught, takes on Han Kuo-Yu of the Kuomintang party (KMT), which advocates closer engagement with China. | The incumbent president, Tsai Ing-Wen of the Democratic Progressive party (DPP), under whom ties with Beijing have become fraught, takes on Han Kuo-Yu of the Kuomintang party (KMT), which advocates closer engagement with China. |