Taipei, July 26 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (???) visited Taoyuan on Wednesday morning to oversee a military exercise at an oil refinery, her first public appearance since testing positive for COVID-19.
The president, wearing a military suit and a face mask, traveled to the Taoyuan Refinery, which is about five kilometers from Taoyuan International Airport, to observe the military conducting an exercise to practice protecting the critical facility operated by the state-owned oil and gas company, CPC Corp.,Taiwan.
Tsai’s visit to the refinery was her first public appearance since testing positive for the disease and displaying mild symptoms Tuesday afternoon.
According to Presidential Office spokesperson Lin Yu-chan (???), Tsai’s symptoms have alleviated and her medical team believe the president is well on her way to a full recovery.
Speaking after the drill, Tsai thanked the armed forces, police officers, fire bureau staffers and all others involved for their participation in responding to the simulated attacks on the refinery.
She also underscored the importance of law enforcement and the armed forces collaborating with the private sector and civil society in order to more effectively protect critical infrastructure from attacks, without elaborating how they should do this.
Tsai also urged the refinery to reinforce its cybersecurity systems and to conduct regular exercises to reduce the risk of cyber attacks.
President Tsai Ing-wen delivers a speech at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Wednesday. Source: Presidential Office July 26, 2023 (In Mandarin, with YouTube’s close captioning feature available)
The drill at the refinery, along with the military’s simulation of anti-aircraft landing operations at the airport on Tuesday morning, are part of the ongoing live-fire Han Kuang exercises aimed at testing Taiwan’s combat readiness in the face of a possible Chinese invasion.
Lin noted that Tsai attaches great importance to the Han Kuang military exercises and the president wished to show her support for all those participating in the drills by inspecting them personally.
Tsai will also meet with a delegation from the European Parliament at the Presidential Office in Taipei on Wednesday afternoon, according to the office.
After testing positive for COVID-19, the president canceled her plans to inspect the Wanan air raid drill and the Min An disaster prevention exercise in Tainan on Tuesday afternoon.
Tsai, 66, has received three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Taiwanese company, Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp.
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