A senior Taiwanese military official is missing after a helicopter made an emergency landing in northern Taiwan, the island's defence ministry said on Thursday, according to a Reuters report.

"The defence ministry said a rescue mission was underway for the 13 people on board the helicopter, which includes the Air Force General Shen Yi-ming, the island's chief of the general staff," the report said.

It quoted the ministry as saying that ten people have been located alive while rescuers were searching for Shen, 62, and two others that were still missing.

•Taiwanese Deputy Defense Minister Shen Yi-ming, salutes as he is introduced to journalists during a press conference in Taipei in March [Johnson Lai/AP]

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