Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday that the government can try to negotiate with the US to see whether it would be willing to lease the weapons systems the government plans to acquire from the US in addition to continuing its efforts to purchase them.
"We can try to discuss with the US government about whether we can borrow the systems from them, but we will not stop our effort to seek passage of the special arms procurement plan in the legislature," he told the Legislative Yuan's plenary session yesterday.
Hsieh made the remark in response to a question asked by independent Legislator Li Ao (
Li said that the US government has an obligation to provide the nation with defensive weapons in accordance to the Taiwan Relations Act.
"Mind you, it does not say `sell,'" Li said. "According to US standards, we are entitled to get those arms free of charge, just like Central American countries do."
"Why do we want to spend money buying them?" Li said.
He also asked Hsieh to give him a yes or no answer regarding whether he would delay the arms procurement plan until the negotiations with the US bear fruit.
"It is not such a simple question that I can answer yes or no to it," Hsieh said. "We can try to talk to the US government, but it is impossible for us to stop buying the systems before the negotiations are successful, because I cannot put the lives of our people on the line."
Li then broke in and said that Hsieh was actually refusing to put the interests of the US at risk because the Taiwan Relations Act was drawn up in the US interest not that of Taiwan.
When asked by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Fai (
"If the NT$480 billion arms procurement project passes the legislature as we expect, I guarantee you that it will not be necessary to earmark any more special budget to buy any weapons," he said.
Lee also told KMT Legislator Tsao Shou-min (
"Although we can control the military factors in the event of a war in the Taiwan Strait 100 percent, the political elements are not in our hands," he said.
People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (
Lin said that according to his research, members of the Executive Yuan's taskforce set up to handle the task of domestically manufacturing submarines have told him that they were not called in to discuss the matter since last May, while Wu and Chou claimed that the decision not to build the subs was made recently by taskforce members.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique