This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/02/taiwans-military-chief-missing-helicopter-crash

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Taiwan's military chief missing after helicopter crash landing Taiwan military chief among eight killed in helicopter crash landing
(about 4 hours later)
Air force general Shen Yi-ming, the island’s chief of general staff, was on board the aircraft that went down near Taipei Air force general Shen Yi-ming died when aircraft carrying 13 people 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 top military official was among eight people killed on Thursday after the helicopter carrying them made a forced landing in a mountainous area near the capital, Taipei, the defence ministry said.
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. The main portion of the helicopter lay in a northern forest wreathed in mist, with its blades shattered into pieces, as dozens of rescuers combed the wreck for survivors, pictures released by emergency authorities showed.
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. The chief of general staff, air force general Shen Yi-ming, died in the incident, while five of the 13 people onboard survived, the military said in a statement.
“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. “Eight of our colleagues were killed,” a military spokesman told a news conference broadcast live on television.
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 defence ministry said it had dispatched a rescue team following the Black Hawk helicopter’s forced landing in New Taipei City, after aviation authorities lost contact with the craft at 8:22am local time.
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 helicopter had left Taipei on a mission to visit soldiers in the north-east county of Yilan. The incident comes a week before democratic Taiwan holds presidential and parliamentary elections on 11 January.
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 president, Tsai Ing-wen, who is seeking re-election, cancelled all campaign activities until Saturday, and urged authorities to make every effort at rescue. She was scheduled to deliver a speech at 3pm.
The United States, which has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but is its strongest international backer and main arms supplier, sold the island 60 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters in 2010.
It was not immediately clear if the helicopter in Thursday’s incident was one of them, however.
The incident was the latest in a series of aviation accidents in Taiwan, after the 2018 crash of a Black Hawk helicopter off its east coast killed six people onboard and the crash of an F-16 fighter jet killed a pilot the same year.
In 2016, the navy fired a supersonic missile in error, hitting a fishing boat in waters that separate Taiwan from diplomatic rival China.
China, which claims Taiwan as its territory to be brought under Beijing’s control by force if necessary, regularly calls the island the most sensitive issue in its ties with the United States.