Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (
"The military will also collect data about the deployment, mobility and reconnaissance capabilities of the Patriot system in the strike on Iraq. All of these are necessary for us to decide whether to buy the package," Tang said.
Tang revealed that the military might start preparing a budget for the system in 2005.
The Taiwanese military already owns a Patriot PAC-2 Plus system, similar to the version the US is deploying in the Middle East. The new deal would see the PAC-3 version brought to Taiwan.
"A top official in the US Army has testified in the US Congress that the interception rate of the Patriot is 67 percent," Tang said. The PAC-3, the newest version of the Patriot system, should have a higher interception rate of 80 percent."
Tang made the remarks yesterday at the legislature as part of his response to inquiries from lawmakers over the performance of the Patriot system in the Iraq war following reports of low-interception rates against Iraqi missiles.
Deputy Defense Minister for Armament General Chen Chao-ming (
Chen said this is below acceptable levels. He assured lawmakers that the military will ask the US to make improvements to the PAC-3 system before delivering it to Taiwan.
"We will set up certain conditions for the deal," Chen said, declining to go into details.
The PAC-3 differs from the PAC-2 in that it is designed mainly to defend against missiles. The PAC-2 is effective primarily against aircraft, with certain anti-missile capabilities.
The military only made the decision to buy the PAC-3 last month after a delay brought about by worries the missile system had yet to prove itself.
Budget concerns have also slowed down military plans.
It was reported that the PAC-3 deal, involving six batteries of the system, would cost over NT$100 billion.
Each PAC-3 interceptor missile is said to cost NT$140 million.
A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the PAC-3 could be bought very soon since sites for the system have already been prepared.
"But we just do not have the money to close the deal. The first priority of the arms buildup is to strengthen sea power," the official said.
Meanwhile, despite Taiwan's staunch support for its US ally, Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday reiterated that Taiwan will not participate in the US-led war against Iraq but will consider offering humanitarian aid.
"We don't plan to share any of the military expenses accrued in the US-led war since we're not part of the war," Yu said. "However, we may provide humanitarian aid to needy countries. Of course, the plan has to be approved by the legislature." Since the US has not yet made such a request so far, Yu said, the Cabinet does not know exactly how much it will cost.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (
"Our stance is clear, that is, the supply of any food or medical aid will come from domestic suppliers," Chien said. "We'd also like to see private charity groups participate in the campaign." Yu and Chien made the remarks during the morning legislative question-and-answer session.
They responded to the inquiries filed by Lo and KMT legislative leader Cheng Feng-shih (鄭逢時), who questioned the government's humanitarian aid in the wake of the US-led war against Iraq, requesting that the government carefully review the necessity of offering such assistance.
"While we offered US$32 million worth of humanitarian aid following the 1991 Gulf War, I hope the government takes into consideration the nation's financial difficulties and high unemployment rate," Lo said.
Yu yesterday said that the government is happy to sign a peace accord with China if it expresses such an interest.
"The Cabinet will make efforts to reach the goal since President Chen Shui-bian (
Echoing Yu's view, Tang said the peace accord with China has to be signed by the two governments and possess international credibility.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching