The US has suggested that Taiwan buy used submarines from Spain or Italy to fill the defense gap between now and 2012, when Taiwan takes delivery of eight subs from the US, a newspaper said yesterday.
Quoting a leading Defense magazine, a Chinese-language newspaper said the US government has suggested to Taipei that it buy second-hand subs from Spain or Italy to meet its defense needs between now and 2012.
US officials made the suggestion because although it has approved the sale of eight diesel-electric subs to Taipei, Taiwan's military will not have the budget until 2006 and production won't begin until 2012.
US Navy Rear Admiral John Butler, program executive officer for submarines, told the defense magazine the US has told Taiwan that as soon as Taipei has the budget, Washington will invite manufacturers to submit plans.
"Taiwan's reply was that they expect to get the budget by 2006," he said.
"The US plans to start producing the eight conventional subs at the pace of one sub a year in 2012. Production costs plus training and support totals US$7 billion," the magazine said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it