Lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties joined hands yesterday to call on the military not to buy Kidd-class destroyers, suggesting instead the AEGIS-equipped destroyer as the substitute.
The lawmakers, led by ex-navy commander-in-chief retired admiral Nelson Ku (顧崇廉) of the PFP, said the Kidds would be no match for China's new battleships and that only the AEGIS could counter threats from the Chinese navy.
They suggested that the military include the AEGIS-equipped destroyers in the list of priority military hardware to be purchased and deployed over the next 10 years.
The suggestion was jointly made by defense committee members Ku, Chen Chung-hsin (陳忠信) of the DPP and Lin Nan-sheng (林南生) of the KMT.
The lawmakers yesterday called a press conference at the legislature to express their views on the military's purchase plans for the next decade. They spent most of the time explaining why they are against the Kidd purchase.
"Most of the lawmakers of the defense committee think the Kidd is not what the navy wants and that the navy plans to buy the ship mainly because of influence from the US military," Ku said.
"We do not think too much of the Kidd purchase plan. Take the price for instance. Although the four Kidds the navy plans to buy look inexpensive, the whole deal will not be cost-effective in the long run if the follow-up repairs and maintenance are taken into consideration," he said.
"We suggest the Ministry of National Defense (MND) buy the AEGIS-class destroyer instead of the Kidds. We know the MND is making efforts in that direction. We want them to work harder," he said.
"But the AEGIS purchase efforts should not be made at the expense of building plans for three types of new naval vessels displacing 120 tonnes, 500 tonnes, to 1,000 tonnes," he said.
Ku also urged the navy to negotiate with the US over the possibility of having an eighth Chengkung-class frigate, modeled on the US-made Perry-class frigate, built in Taiwan by the state-run China Shipbuilding Corp (CSBC).
"The US agreed 10 years ago to provide the technology and equipment for the construction of the eighth Chengkung ship, which would be modified as a smaller-sized AEGIS. Now the navy is ready to revive the construction plan for the eighth Chengkung.
"We hope the MND will try its best to persuade the US to have the ship built in Taiwan," Ku said.
The navy now has seven Chengkung-class frigates in service, which were built by the CSBC. An eighth ship of the class, to be modified as a smaller-size AEGIS destroyer, was initially planned to be built shortly after the completion of the previous seven but the construction plan was cancelled for reasons the navy did not want to reveal.
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
RSS