Mass blackouts have hit Taiwan and left more than five million households without power following an ‘incident’ at a major power generation plant.
The power failures occurred on Thursday morning across the island, from the capital Taipei to central Taichung city and southern Pingtung county.
Hydro and other power plants are now being brought online to provide electricity, as the state-run Taiwan Power Company blamed a problem with a transformer at the Hsinta power plant in the southern city of Kaohsiung for a trip at an ultra-high voltage substation.
The mass blackouts came as former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the island’s president to warn that Taiwan must not be allowed to suffer the same fate as Ukraine following Russia’s barbaric invasion of the country.
Self-governed Taiwan’s 23 million people live under the constant threat of invasion by authoritarian China, which views the island as its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo walk together at the presidential building in Taipei, Taiwan, on Thursday
A shop owner and her dog stay outside a Taiwanese restaurant where electricity supply is down, following a nationwide blackout jeopardising transportation and the private sectors across island in Taipei on Thursday
‘If any of us were mistaken or complacent about the risk to that freedom, I think we need only watch what’s taking place in Europe today to see that this continues to demand deep concerted focus leadership from those of us who cherish freedom,’ Pompeo said in a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen today.
‘I think these days call for the simple reminder that it is not provocative to say that one demands freedom,’ he added, warning that ‘those who desire to destroy freedom, to change human lives’ will see silence as ‘their opportunity’.
Pompeo, one of former President Donald Trump’s most hawkish advisers on China, arrived in Taipei on Wednesday for a visit at a time of rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over the self-ruled island as well as the crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Tsai bestowed a presidential honor to Pompeo during his visit on Thursday for his contribution to boosting relations with the island, as China’s government lambasted his record as ‘despicable’.
China placed sanctions on Pompeo when he left office at the end of the Trump presidency last year, angered by his repeated criticism, especially of its ruling Communist Party, and support for Chinese-claimed Taiwan.
The visit comes a day after the US Air Force displayed its military force at one of its airbases in Japan, showcasing a fleet of more than two dozen warplanes in an apparent effort to deter Chinese forces from invading Taiwan.
Democratic Taiwan has watched the Ukraine situation closely, as many fear that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could trigger a Chinese invasion of the country.
The blackouts across Taiwan meant that a scheduled live stream of Tsai’s meeting with Pompeo was cancelled.
The US Air Force displayed its military force at one of its airbases in Japan on Tuesday, showcasing a fleet of more than two dozen warplanes in an apparent effort to deter Chinese forces from invading Taiwan
The Presidential Office said an initial probe showed the blackouts were caused by ‘an incident’ at a power plant in southern Kaohsiung city, as Tsai ordered an investigation into the cause of fault.
State-run Taipower said a malfunction occurred at Kaohsiung’s Hsinta power plant, the island’s third-largest coal-fired station which supplies around a seventh of Taiwan’s power.
It then caused an ultra-high voltage station in neighbouring Tainan to trip, which led to the blackouts, it said.
The outage hit about 5.5 million homes across Taiwan, the company said, of which 4 million have since had power restored.
‘I am very sorry for this major loss of electricity, and am extremely apologetic for the inconvenience caused, especially for the south,’ Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua told reporters.
Asked whether the plant had been hacked, cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng said authorities could not rule out any cause.
‘It all needs further proof and investigation, which requires evidence.’
A police officer instructs the traffic as traffic lights are down in Taipei on Thursday, following a nationwide blackout across Taiwan
Power should start being restored in southern Taiwan from midday, Wang added.
Back-up power supply was at 24% at the time of the incident, Wang said, adding that it was not triggered by insufficient supply, the root cause of major outages in May, when Taiwan was grappling with drought.
TV footage showed police officers directing cars as traffic lights failed and some shops were forced to stay closed due to the lack of power.
Taiwan High Speed Rail said an unspecified number of its trains were affected by the power outage.
Taiwan Railways Administration said some of its trains operating in southern Tainan, Pingtung and central Nantou have been delayed or suspended.
The island does occasionally experience large power outages, particularly during warmer seasons when demand spikes.
In 2017, Taiwan’s economic minister resigned following an outcry over massive power failures across the island, affecting more than six million households.
Blackouts also hit in May last year as demand spiked during a heatwave.
Tsai praised Pompeo for facilitating ‘multiple breakthroughs’ in Taiwan-US relations after conferring him an honorary medal to recognise his contributions
Meanwhile, Pompeo’s visit to Taiwan comes a day after a separate trip by a delegation of former US security officials aimed at assuring regional allies that Washington ‘stands firm behind its commitments’.
Pompeo announced in January last year as the outgoing state secretary that Washington was ending restrictions on official contacts with Taipei island in a move that angered Beijing.
Tsai praised Pompeo for facilitating ‘multiple breakthroughs’ in Taiwan-US relations after conferring him the Order of the Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon, one of Taiwan’s top honours, in recognition of his contributions. Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is a previous recipient.
Pompeo, wearing a mask with U.S. and Taiwanese flags emblazoned upon it, said he was proud of his achievements while in office to try and normalise relations with Taiwan, including sending U.S. officials to visit.
‘It is not provocative to say that one demands freedom. Indeed to walk away from these things demonstrate the absence of resolve,’ he said.
China put sanctions on ‘lying and cheating’ Pompeo and 27 other top Trump-era officials as President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.
Asked about his trip, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said: ‘The relevant actions from Pompeo are despicable and inevitably a futile effort’.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen poses for pictures with Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after he was bestowed with an Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon at the presidential building in Taipei, Taiwan, on Thursday
China’s top newspaper, the party’s official People’s Daily, weighed in with a commentary earlier on Thursday, calling Pompeo an ‘extremely notorious’ anti-China politician who ‘took pride in lying and deceit’ while in office.
The Donald Trump administration gave strong backing to Taiwan, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, including high-profile arms sales and visits by top U.S. officials.
China has ramped up its military and diplomatic pressure against Taiwan since the 2016 election of Tsai, who rejects its stance that the island is part of Chinese territory.
Its sabre-rattling has increased considerably over the past year, with warplanes breaching Taiwan’s air defence zone on a near-daily basis.
Just weeks before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, China and Russia signed a joint statement agreeing to a host of foreign policy goals, including Taiwan being ‘an inalienable part’ of the mainland.
Taiwan’s democratically elected government says it wants peace but will defend itself if attacked, and that only the island’s people have the right to decide their future.
The island plans to more than double its yearly missile production capacity to close to 500 this year, Taiwan’s defence ministry said in a report, as it boosts its combat power amid what it sees as China’s growing military threat.
Taiwan last year approved extra military spending of T$240 billion ($8.6 billion) over the next five years as tensions with China, which claims the island as its own territory, have hit a new high and Chinese military planes have repeatedly flown through Taiwan’s air defence identification zone.
In a report printed on Wednesday and sent to the parliament for review by lawmakers, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, the defence ministry said the extra spending included plans to boost annual missile production capacity to 497 from the current 207 a year.
Among them are Taiwan’s self-made Wan Chien air-to-ground missiles as well as the upgraded version of the Hsiung Feng IIE missile, the longer-range Hsiung Sheng land-attack missile which military experts say is capable of hitting targets further inland in China.
The ministry was also planning to start manufacturing unspecified “attack drones” with an annual production target of 48 such aircraft.
The so-called ‘Elephant Walk’ – a term referring to the taxiing of large numbers of military aircraft before takeoff, when they are in close formation – saw a grouping of two dozen F-15 fighter aircraft and an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter, collectively valued at just over a billion dollars
Meanwhile, the US Air Force displayed its military might at the Kadena Air Base in Japan on Tuesday, showcasing a fleet of warplanes in an apparent effort to deter Chinese forces from invading Taiwan.
The display of military might at the base, which officials called a ‘routine wing readiness exercise,’ came two days after President Biden dispatched several former senior defense staffers to the island nation in a show of support, as many wonder whether Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could trigger a Chinese invasion of the country.
The so-called ‘Elephant Walk’ – a term referring to the taxiing of large numbers of military aircraft before takeoff, when they are in close formation – saw a grouping of two dozen F-15 fighter aircraft and an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter, collectively valued at just over a billion dollars.
The show of force comes after months of mounting and increased Chinese aggression directed at Taiwan, including nine Chinese aircraft entering the nation’s air space Thursday – the day Russian troops invaded Ukraine
The show of force comes after months of mounting and increased Chinese aggression directed at Taiwan, including nine Chinese aircraft entering the nation’s air space Thursday – the day Russian troops invaded Ukraine
The fleet of jets are assigned to the 44th and 67th Fighter Squadrons, better known by their colloquial epithets, the Vampires and the Fighting Cocks, respectively. The chopper belongs to the 33rd Rescue Squadron, which boasts the motto ‘That Others May Live.’
The formation also featured a $50million KC-135 Stratotanker refueling plane, assigned to the 909th Air Refueling Squadron, as well as a $270million E-3 Sentry aerial command and control craft, assigned to the 961st Airborne Air Control Squadron.
The show of force comes after months of mounting and increased Chinese aggression directed at Taiwan, including nine Chinese aircraft entering the nation’s air space Thursday – the day Russian troops invaded Ukraine.
