Military experts said yesterday that Taiwan should swiftly build up its P3C maritime-patrol aircraft force to be used in conjunction with those of the US and Japan, after the two countries declared yesterday that Taiwan was a common security issue.
Liao Holmes Liao (
The US has approved the sale of 12 P3C aircraft to Taiwan, but the arms deal including the aircraft as well as three PAC-3 missile batteries and eight diesel power submarines has been delayed in the legislature.
Lee said if the legislature passed the NT$610.8 billion bill this year, the US would deliver the first P3C to Taipei in 2008, the next four in 2009, four in 2010 and the last four in 2011.
Liao said the major objective of the new US-Japanese declaration on the Taiwan Strait was to enhance their anti-submarine warfare capabilities in East Asia, and in practice this will mean strengthening their P3C activities in the area.
Liao said while the US had 80 P3Cs stationed in Japan, Japan also owned over 120 P3Cs. Their P3C force have intensively patrolled the waters of East Asia and exchanged intelligence.
"They not only have been grasping what is happening under the waters of East Asia, but have established the strongest military-cooperation model in the world after the Cold War," Liao said.
He said while the US and Japan were adjusting their strategy to pay more attention to the Taiwan Strait and to a more aggressive Chinese navy, Taiwan should build its P3C force as quickly as possible, to prepare for a connection with those of the US and Japan.
However, Liao said he would not support the purchase of eight diesel subs from the US because the prices were too high. Instead, a strong P3C force would be a cheap and efficient way to counter Chinese submarines and a possible blockade of Taiwan.
However, Liao said it is a pity that, although the government has planned to buy 12 P3Cs, the force would be efficient only under the command of a land-based anti-submarine warfare command center, the construction of which the government has yet to propose. "It is like having a computer without a screen," Liao said.
In addition, both Liao and Lee urged the acquisition of better 4CISR (communications, command and electronics systems) units from the US.
"Although the government has been in the process of obtaining 12 P3Cs, the kind of 4CISR system used on the P3Cs is more important," Lee said.
Liao said the Chinese navy has become more active and aggressive in recent years. As the world's No.2 navy force, Japan felt annoyed and humiliated when a Chinese nuclear submarine made an incursion into its waters near Okinawa last November.
Also, as one of the major sea-lanes from Japan and Korea in Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia, the Taiwan Strait is of strategic importance to trade in the region.
As a result, Japan agreed to move from strategic ambiguity to strategic clarity.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
‘BOOMING’: ’ The number of partners we have here is incredible. You can see from their stock prices. They’re doing so well, they’re so happy,’ Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp’s spending in Taiwan has ballooned to about US$150 billion a year, 10 times the US$10 billion to US$15 billion the company spent five years ago, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, suggesting Taiwan’s strategic importance in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain. “Taiwan is the epicenter of the AI revolution. This is where the chips come, packaging comes. This is where the systems are made. This is where AI supercomputers were created,” Huang said at a meeting for the company’s employees in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei, the planned site of Nvidia’s Taipei headquarters. “Taiwan
RSS