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Taiwan counts 15 lives lost in 2020 and rising military cost amid escalating tension with China
- Black Hawk helicopter crash which claimed high-profile Taiwan officer was the first of five fatal military incidents
- By November Taiwan’s navy had sent 1,223 ships to meet challenges by Chinese naval vessels, an increase of nearly 50 per cent on last year
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The Taiwanese military suffered big losses in both personnel and morale in 2020, with some observers linking it to pressure from mainland China.
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A total of 15 people were killed in five accidents during routine exercises – the highest number since Tsai Ing-wen was elected president in 2016.
Among them was Taiwan’s chief of the general staff Shen Yi-ming, who was one of eight people who died when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in early January.
In previous years, Taiwan’s military has had only a few incidents, such as the failed launch of a missile in July 2016 and a collision between its military and a civil ship in March 2017.
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Taiwan’s greater personnel loss this year coincides with an increase in its military activities, prompted by muscle-flexing operations from the Chinese mainland which has sent warplanes almost daily to Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) since late September and has conducted countless drills in or near the Taiwan Strait.
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