When Song Ji’s political views were suppressed 12 years ago, Gu Lixiong responded domineeringly: Now his responsibility is national defense

Minister of National Defense Gu Lixiong. (File photo)

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan has raised his political opinion of relocating Songshan Airport and building an AI park on its original site. Yesterday (14th), Kuomintang legislator Luo Zhiqiang, in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuan, unearthed a statement made by Defense Minister Gu Lixiong in 2014 when he was seeking the Democratic Progressive Party's nomination for Taipei mayor. He advocated relocating Songshan Airport. Some public opinion pointed out that Gu Lixiong's position was "inconsistent." Looking at the entire Q&A and the spatial and temporal background, Gu Lixiong did not directly deny the discussion of relocation of Songji, but emphasized that it is an important support node of the capital's central defense system. Alternative facilities and seamless mission connection plans must be in place before relocation. In addition, China's military threat has expanded from the Taiwan Strait to the entire Indo-Pacific for more than ten years. The Ministry of National Defense takes defense resilience as its primary consideration, which is by no means a so-called "position reversal."

Luo Zhiqiang, who has joined Chiang Wanan's campaign speech system, read out Gu Lixiong's political views at the time during yesterday's questioning: "The height restrictions, construction restrictions and noise caused by Songshan Airport have constituted a very big obstacle to the development of Taipei City, and Taipei has sacrificed too much for this." The political opinion also mentioned, "When domestic flight demand can be handled by Taoyuan Airport, there is no need to continue Songshan Airport." Gu Lixiong responded immediately that the loose machine did bring height and noise restrictions to the surrounding areas, but "from my position as the Ministry of National Defense, I will of course put national defense resilience and military missions as top considerations." The country can discuss it together with the ministries and the Taipei City Government based on overall strategic and economic considerations.

In fact, Gu Lixiong's political views at the time were actually based on the premise that domestic routes could be undertaken by Taoji. Jiang Wanan planned to complete the relocation in conjunction with the opening of Taoji's third runway in 2033, but Lin Guoxian, deputy minister of the Ministry of Transportation, pointed out in response to a question on the 14th that Taoji's third terminal and third runway are to enhance the capacity of Taoji as an East Asia hub airport. They have been submitted to the Executive Yuan's 2045 National Civil Aviation Airport Plan and have not been included in the relocation or change of functions of Taoji. Gu Lixiong now emphasizes the feasibility of connecting alternative facilities with missions, and the same logic is to replace first and then discuss migration. He also said in an interview on the 12th that if the central and local governments really want to evaluate, the Ministry of National Defense will participate and provide professional advice to ensure that the overall defense energy is not affected. Even at the end of Luo Zhiqiang’s questioning, he was “certain that the minister did not mean what he said.”

When answering several legislators, Gu Lixiong explained that Songji is located at the core of the capital and has functions such as supporting the operation of the national command center, military air transportation and emergency response. It takes care of national military combat readiness, troop transportation, command and control, logistics support and disaster prevention in peacetime. In wartime, it is integrated into the joint combat system and performs tasks such as air force and material transportation, casualty evacuation and strategic mobility. "The operation of the entire national command system also depends on Songshan Airport." He pointed out that the only military airports in the north are Hsinchu and Songshan. Hsinchu is mainly used for regional air defense. If Hsinchu replaces Songshan, "at least it is not feasible at present." Huang Zhiwei, executive officer of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Ministry of National Defense Staff Headquarters, also said that in the joint operations plan, Songji is the emergency transportation command node for the defense of the garrison area, and has needs for emergency supplies, casualty evacuation, etc.

Regarding the Kuomintang legislators Huang Ren and Huang Jianbin's opinion that the loose aircraft is close to the administrative center and may become the first target of beheadings and acupuncture battles by the Communist army, Gu Lixiong asked, if this logic is followed, Taoyuan Airport will also be abolished, "no airports in the north should exist." He also said that Taoyuan Airport has a vast hinterland and is more difficult to defend. Before the national army can find an alternative, it is still necessary to loose the aircraft. In recent years, the National Army has also reorganized the 66th Marine Brigade into the General Staff Headquarters, jointly shouldering the garrison of the capital with the military police, and dispatched troops to Songji. President Lai Qingde, accompanied by Gu Lixiong, will oversee the relevant forces in March 2025. On the first night of this year's Hanguang 42 exercise, the National Army also practiced the "Wanjun Plan", using a convoy of eight-wheeled Clouded Leopard armored vehicles to escort the president to the Dazhi Hengshan Command Post to test the wartime command system and the continued operation of the government.

Is loosening the machine related to "allies rushing to rescue"? Gu Lixiong did not deny or confirm

Democratic Progressive Party legislator Wang Dingyu pointed out that the loose machine is crucial to connect Yuanshan, Hengshan and other command posts and the Guandu Plain defense operations, and is an irreplaceable need for national defense and security. He asked whether Songji, as a node for the flow of people and logistics, in addition to its internal use by the national army, also involved exchanges with allies. Gu Lixiong did not directly deny it, only saying that the details could not be explained here. The Songshan Base Command of the Air Force (Songfinger Base) is responsible for the special plane missions of the President, Vice President, Chief Executive, and military officials at all levels. In recent years, the planes of US officials visiting Taiwan have often parked at Songshan Base's "Songfeng Hall" dedicated apron. In 2021, three U.S. senators took a U.S. C-17 transport plane, and in 2022, Pelosi, the then Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, aboard a U.S. C-40 executive plane, both landed at Songshan Airport.

Different time and space bring more serious threats. Xi Jinping has been in power for 13 years and threatens Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region.

Looking back at 2014, Xi Jinping had not been in power for long. After that, the Communist Army was restructured to establish the Eastern Theater Command in 2016. The United States assessed that Xi Jinping required the Communist Army to have the ability to invade Taiwan by 2027. After Pelosi visited Taiwan in 2022, military exercises around Taiwan became more normal. Gu Lixiong took over the Ministry of National Defense on May 20, 2024. Only three days after taking office, the Communist Army launched "Joint Sword-2024A", followed by "Joint Sword-2024B" and "Strait Thunder-2025A". At the end of last year, the impact point of the "Justice Mission-2025" rocket was closer to within 24 miles of Taiwan. The exercise subjects clearly listed "sealing and controlling key harbors and key areas" and "external three-dimensional deterrence". The threat has already spread beyond the Taiwan Strait. In June last year, the Liaoning and Shandong warships were active in the Western Pacific for the first time at the same time, and the Liaoning ship also crossed the second island chain. In July this year, China test-fired a submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific. In August, 41 countries including the United States and Japan issued a joint statement expressing concern.

From the perspective of the first island chain, the U.S. national security strategy at the end of last year and the national defense strategy at the beginning of this year both emphasized the establishment of "denial defense" in the first island chain. In July this year, U.S. Undersecretary of War Robert Coberg stated bluntly that Taiwan is obviously part of the first island chain. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi also stated in Congress in November last year that if something happens to Taiwan accompanied by the use of force, it may constitute an "existential crisis situation" in which Japan can exercise its right to collective self-defense.

This summer, researchers at the RAND Corporation in the United States wrote an article analyzing the idea of ​​"military academia", a journal affiliated with the CCP's Military Commission, proposing a "large-scale city-wide incapacitation war" that advocates besieging Taipei, blocking external rescue and material supplies, and attacking infrastructure such as runways. Taiwan occupies a key position in the first island chain. Whether the capital's air gateway can maintain operation in peacetime and wartime not only affects the integrity of the national military's chain of command, but also affects the contact and coordination with allies and allies in times of crisis.

Gu Lixiong: "Although I am a citizen of Taipei, my current responsibility is the Ministry of National Defense."

From vying for election as a non-district legislator of the Democratic Progressive Party in 2014, to successively serving as chairman of the Party Property Council and the Financial Management Committee, in May 2020, he became the secretary-general of the National Security Council and went through the large-scale military exercises around Taiwan by the Communist Army in 2022, and then took over the Ministry of National Defense in 2024. The national security information Gu Lixiong possesses is no longer the same as the national army's operational planning. The newly appointed Kuomintang convening committee member Xu Qiaoxin yesterday even asked Gu Lixiong as a "Taipei citizen". He also said frankly, "Although I am a Taipei citizen, my current duty is to be the Minister of National Defense."

Gu Lixiong emphasized that the Ministry of National Defense so far has no alternative plan for easing the aircraft; the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Transportation have both confirmed that they have not received any document or coordination from the Taipei City Government on this issue. Regarding the old Taoyuan Air Force Base and Bade Huaisheng Airport options proposed by Kuomintang legislator and retired general Chen Yongkang, Gu Lixiong also made it clear that the land for the former has been handed over to the Taoyuan City Government, while the usable area for the latter has been very small due to the presence of the National Defense University. He emphasized that if all parties want to discuss it, the Ministry of National Defense is certainly willing to participate, but each alternative measure must carefully evaluate its alternative energy and potential costs.