Risking national security
Speaking at the first televised election platform presentation of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) five presidential hopefuls on Tuesday last week, former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) said that the F-16V jets the US sold to Taiwan are “useless” and that Taiwan should consider purchasing advanced Chinese fighters instead.
Chou’s dumbfounding remarks reflect the misunderstanding of some Taiwanese about the new model of F-16 jets.
Moreover, his failure to distinguish friend from foe is Taiwan’s biggest crisis today.
I am in favor of continuous cross-strait exchanges, but that does not mean that Taiwan should abolish its self-defense capabilities.
During the Cold War, for example, the US and the Soviet Union insisted on maintaining strong defensive capabilities for the sake of national security, despite their Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.
Based on the same reasoning, despite growing China-Japan relations in recent years, the Japan Self-Defense Force remains on the alert against Beijing.
Apart from continuing to buy the newest F-35 jets from the US, it has built Aegis-equipped warships and expanded its sea power as part of a series of military building projects.
As for China, it has never withdrawn the threat to “resolving” the cross-strait issue by force, and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s aircraft carrier has passed through the Taiwan Strait.
Although China is unwilling to admit it, while the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have not openly turned on each other, various military tests, exercises and intelligence activities are taking place under the table.
Taiwan’s US arms procurements comply with its national interests, and such deals can directly and effectively boost the armed forces’ strength.
For the sake of national security and the cross-strait situation, necessary arms procurements should be a part of the national defense.
The F-16V jets have proven to be a fine weapon by foreign military experts, not to mention that Taiwan has a monopoly on researching and developing the aircraft’s upgrade program.
Since the F-16 series aircraft is in service in dozens of countries across the world, Taiwan can potentially be expected to make billions of New Taiwan dollars if these countries wanted to upgrade or purchase upgraded F-16V jets in the future, making Taiwan a winner second only to the US arms dealers.
When a Taiwanese politician recklessly denounces US arms sales and mocks the military’s arsenal, he might not only hurt the US’ view of and trust in Taiwan, he could once again jeopardize the future of national defense. Taiwanese must be alert to this risk.
Ray Song
Chiayi
A series of strong earthquakes in Hualien County not only caused severe damage in Taiwan, but also revealed that China’s power has permeated everywhere. A Taiwanese woman posted on the Internet that she found clips of the earthquake — which were recorded by the security camera in her home — on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu. It is spine-chilling that the problem might be because the security camera was manufactured in China. China has widely collected information, infringed upon public privacy and raised information security threats through various social media platforms, as well as telecommunication and security equipment. Several former TikTok employees revealed
For the incoming Administration of President-elect William Lai (賴清德), successfully deterring a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attack or invasion of democratic Taiwan over his four-year term would be a clear victory. But it could also be a curse, because during those four years the CCP’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will grow far stronger. As such, increased vigilance in Washington and Taipei will be needed to ensure that already multiplying CCP threat trends don’t overwhelm Taiwan, the United States, and their democratic allies. One CCP attempt to overwhelm was announced on April 19, 2024, namely that the PLA had erred in combining major missions
The Constitutional Court on Tuesday last week held a debate over the constitutionality of the death penalty. The issue of the retention or abolition of the death penalty often involves the conceptual aspects of social values and even religious philosophies. As it is written in The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, the government’s policy is often a choice between the lesser of two evils or the greater of two goods, and it is impossible to be perfect. Today’s controversy over the retention or abolition of the death penalty can be viewed in the same way. UNACCEPTABLE Viewing the
At the same time as more than 30 military aircraft were detected near Taiwan — one of the highest daily incursions this year — with some flying as close as 37 nautical miles (69kms) from the northern city of Keelung, China announced a limited and selected relaxation of restrictions on Taiwanese agricultural exports and tourism, upon receiving a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) delegation led by KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁). This demonstrates the two-faced gimmick of China’s “united front” strategy. Despite the strongest earthquake to hit the nation in 25 years striking Hualien on April 3, which caused