The lack of protection against electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons at the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) new headquarters is “irresponsible” and could endanger Taiwan, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker said yesterday.
Senior military leaders told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) that the buildings under construction in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) would not be outfitted with EMP countermeasures as planned because of budget problems.
The NT$200 million (US$6.9 million) system was scrapped despite comprising just 1.3 percent of the facility’s total construction budget and the NT$84 million already invested in the system, the Liberty Times quoted sources as saying, adding that the military was not happy.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The information comes amid news that China has been developing EMP weapons in the event of a conflict with Taiwan.
EMP weapons can be used to emit a huge pulse of electromagnetic radiation that can knock out all electronics — particularly computers — over a widespread area.
“The Ministry of National Defense should have built the protection regardless of its budgetary concerns,” DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said.
“Without it, it is like a soldier going to a battlefield not carrying a gun. Our whole military network could be completely taken offline,” Tsai said.
The long-delayed headquarters complex has been under construction since 2003. Originally envisioned to be a state-of-the-art facility, the construction process has been plagued by contractor problems, including a bankruptcy, leading to a Control Yuan probe.
The report about the lack of an EMP shield could trigger new questions over the practicality of the NT$15.8 billion project.
Military analysts believe that China could be planning to cause a massive low-altitude EMP burst over Taiwan in the event of an armed conflict in such a way that would severely damage electronics — disabling weapons systems — but kill few people and not impact China.
That scenario was detailed by a 2005 National Ground Intelligence Center report declassified earlier this month. China’s EMP capability could be used as a surprise measure after an initial strike to help dissuade the US from intervening, the report said.
Ministry spokesperson Colonel Lo Shao-ho (羅紹和) told the Liberty Times that the decision to drop EMP protection was made four years ago after changes to the building’s design increased construction costs. However, the NT$84 million already invested in the system meant it could be added at a later point, he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said the system should be put in place now, given the concerns raised by the recently released intelligence report.
“It should be finished,” Lin said. “One EMP blast could immediately knock out any product using a power transformer, including computers and other electronics ... it would be too late to deal with the aftereffects.”
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
Taiwan must invest in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to keep abreast of the next technological leap toward automation, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said at the luanch ceremony of Taiwan AI and Robots Alliance yesterday. The world is on the cusp of a new industrial revolution centered on AI and robotics, which would likely lead to a thorough transformation of human society, she told an event marking the establishment of a national AI and robotics alliance in Taipei. The arrival of the next industrial revolution could be a matter of years, she said. The pace of automation in the global economy can
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,