Taiwan must upgrade and expand its submarine warfare capabilities if it is to prevent China, which will have its first aircraft carrier battle group by 2020, from surrounding the island from the east with its blue-water navy in the future, a high-ranking defense official said.
Chen Yung-kang (陳永康), director of the Ministry of Defense's Integrated Assessment Office, said the group would consist of 11 warships, with the recently acquired Varyag aircraft carrier and a Kiev-class helicopter carrier -- both Soviet-era vessels -- serving as its centerpiece.
Seven surface ships and two nuclear attack submarines will make up the remaining nine vessels, Chen said.
Chen made the remarks at a symposium yesterday morning, which was hosted by the Institute for Taiwan Defense and Strategic Studies to discuss the navy's planned purchase of eight submarines from the US.
Vice Admiral Tung Hsiang-lung (董翔龍), chief of staff of the Navy Command Headquarters, said that the US government has requested a down payment of US$360 million as a guarantee for the deal, given that Taiwan's opposition has continuously blocked the budget for the purchase of the submarines in the legislature.
"[The US government's] attitude is quite clear," Tung said. "If we do not give a down payment, they will not begin to hire European contractors to build the vessels for us."
The US government has to hire European contractors to build the eight diesel submarines for Taiwan since the US does not build diesel submarines anymore.
"After making the down payment and deciding on the European contractors, we will ask for blueprints of the vessels before they begin to build the submarines for us. When the blueprints are approved, we will then submit them to the legislature for a final approval," Tung said.
While the navy is willing to fork out US$360 million, Tung said it would not pay the US anything more unless it received assurance that what the US is selling is what the navy really needs, Tung said.
The navy's acquiescence to the down payment has been criticized by the opposition and some mem-bers of the public as extortion by the US.
"But, [the down payment] is not a form of extortion. The down payment is actually a show of our determination and guarantee to the US and potential European contractors that Taiwan will definitely carry out the contract. It also shows our determination to defend ourselves," Tung said.
Chu Tsung-jung (
Additional reporting by Hsu Chao-hsuan
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
ENHANCED SECURITY: A Japanese report said that the MOU is about the sharing of information on foreign nationals entering Japan from Taiwan in the event of an emergency The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that Taiwan and Japan had signed an agreement to promote information exchanges and cooperation on border management, although it did not disclose more details on the pact. Ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said the ministry is happy to see that the two nations continue to enhance cooperation on immigration control, in particular because Taiwan and Japan “share a deep friendship and frequent people-to-people exchanges.” “Last year, more than 7.32 million visits were made between the two countries, making it even more crucial for both sides to work closer on immigration and border control,” he said. Hsiao
RSS