A Ministry of National Defense (MND) spokesman said yesterday that an early acquisition of Kidd-class destroyers will help meet the Navy's needs to beef up its combat capabilities.
Major General Huang Suey-sheng (黃穗生) stressed at a news conference the navy's need to buy the four Kidd-class destroyers that the US has promised to sell to Taiwan, at a time when China's military prowess is increasingly outpacing Taiwan's.
With advanced missiles, superior air defenses, anti-submarine and battlefield management capabilities, the Kidd-class destroyers, with a 8,998-tonne displacement, will greatly beef up Taiwan's anti-submarine and combined service combat capabilities, Huang noted.
Huang stressed, however, that the navy's long-term pursuit of US-made Arleigh Burke-class destroyers remains unchanged in light of China's military buildup and Navy's long-term preparedness needs.
On Thursday, DPP lawmakers forced, and won, a vote in the legislature's National Defense Committee on the navy's 2003 budget to buy four Kidd-class destroyers from the US.
The development reversed the result of a joint meeting of the defense and budget committees on Wednesday, which concluded that the Kidds' budget should be decided by vote on the floor of the legislature.
Meanwhile, Rear Admiral Yeh Chu (
In addition to chasing the research vessel away, Taiwan also lodged a protest with Beijing through the intermediary body of the Straits Exchange Foundation and asked that similar intrusions do not happen again, Yeh said.
The Xiangyanghong No. 14, which belongs to China's State Oceanic Administration, was spotted in waters within the 22-km limit off Orchid Island at around 10:30am Sunday.
After being informed by fishermen operating near Orchid Island, coast guard authorities joined the navy in monitoring the vessel and later chased it away.
The Chinese vessel was not armed but was equipped with various antennas. Coast guard authorities said they suspect that the ship has repeatedly navigated close to Orchid Island not only to conduct oceanic research but also to intercept Taiwan's communications.
It was the third time that the Xiangyanghong No. 14 has been spotted within Taiwan's territorial waters.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard