The military unveiled an upgraded version of its locally produced indigenous defense fighter (IDF) warplane yesterday, to help boost the nation's defenses against China until Taipei can purchase more modern fighter planes from the West.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) presided over the ceremony yesterday at the Chingchuankang Airbase in Taichung.
Referring to the modified Indigenous Defense Fighter-II (IDF-II) "Hsiung Ying" (雄鷹, or "Goshawk"), Chen said he hoped the new model would protect the homeland with the ferocity of a Taiwan goshawk.
PHOTO: CHAN CHAO-YANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Chen watched a demonstration flight of two jets and later on inspected one on the ground. He praised the aircraft's development, but again urged the Legislative Yuan to hasten the approval of a billion-dollar arms budget to buy 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft, eight diesel submarines and six PAC-III anti-missile batteries from the US.
`A pity'
"It is a great pity that the three arms-purchase plans have not yet been passed by the legislature," he said. "National security should transcend party politics."
The Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) spent NT$7 billion (US$200 million) and seven years upgrading the IDFs that it manufactured between 1981 and 1999, with help from the US.
The project was approved by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the budgets were earmarked by the Democratic Progressive Party administration, beginning in 2001.
The IDF was named "Ching-kuo" (經國) after Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), late president and son of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石). It has been upgraded to improve its combat-capabilities against Chinese forces.
Modifications
The modifications included improving the jet's flight control system and cockpit, enlarging the fuel tanks and equipping the planes with the capacity to carry air-to-air missiles and anti-radiation missiles.
The Air Force's fleet now consists of 130 IDFs, 150 US-made F-16A/Bs and 60 French-built Mirage 2000-5s. Taiwan is also seeking to buy 66 F-16C/Ds.
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), who accompanied Chen to the test flight and naming ceremony at the AIDC in Taichung County yesterday morning, mistakenly referred to the new model as the "Taiwan bald eagle."
Noticing her blunder, the vice president then corrected herself and said that the right name, Hsiung Ying, was the combination of "Ying Hsiung" (英雄, hero) and "goshawk" (蒼鷹).
Saying that government policies should continue regardless of which party is in power, Chen yesterday urged opposition parties to stop letting politics get in the way of the passage of government budgets and bills in the legislature because of upcoming elections.
"I hereby call on the opposition parties to refrain from hindering the government from serving the nation," he said. "I also hope that Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) can use his political influence to help pass the government budget as well as bills for the benefit of the people and the country."
Jeopardy
"It is beyond comprehension that in a normal democracy, government budgets are still bogged down in the legislature at the end of March," he said. "As long as the budget doesn't pass the legislature, national development and the welfare of the people will be in grave jeopardy."
Citing the example of the IDF upgrade project, Chen said that his administration did not overturn the project nor discount the budgets, even though the project had been approved by the former administration.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced
RSS