Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明) said yesterday that in order to counter Beijing's growing force of submarines and to keep the sea lanes open in time of conflict, Taiwan needs Kidd-class destroyers.
"China's submarines still pose a potential threat to Taiwan's security. We need the Kidd mainly because of its excellent anti-submarine capabilities," Tang said.
"Taiwan is an island nation. We count on sea traffic for exports and imports. The sea lanes are our economic life lines and must be protected," he said.
Tang made the remarks yesterday during a break in his closed-door testimony before the legislature's Defense Committee and in response to inquiries from the press over why the military is so determined to acquire the four Kidd-class destroyers, despite opposition from quite a number lawmakers on the committee.
Before the meeting, the military made a point of visiting every lawmaker on the Defense Committee in an attempt to persuade its members to support the purchase of the ships.
Despite their best efforts, however, most Defense Committee members present yesterday remained reluctant to stand behind the deal.
Committee member Lin Nan-sheng (林南生), a KMT lawmaker, said the military told legislators that the US is willing to reduce the price of the four Kidds by five percent.
"The price reduction is good. But that isn't our main consideration. We are much more concerned about the fact that maintenance and repair fees for the four Kidds will be much higher than the cost of purchasing them," Lin said.
Lin also said that while the US says it is willing give a five-percent discount on the purchase of the ships, it is not prepared to reduce the cost of overhauling the four decommissioned destroyers before delivery.
The sale price of the four Kidds is set at NT$28.4 billion, not including the cost of overhauling and renewing equipment and weapons systems. The sonar of the Kidd, for instance, needs to be upgraded, the cost of which is estimated at NT$350 million for the four ships, a naval official said.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all