■ Defense
Arms deal necessary: MND
Vice Minister of National Defense Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) yesterday called on the people to support the government's arms procurement plan, saying Taiwan must beef up its defense and counterattack capability in the face of China's continued military buildup. Tsai made the remarks while giving a speech on "national defense, trade and cross-Taiwan Strait relations" in Taichung City. Tsai pointed out that the international community generally agrees that there are three regions of crisis in the world: the Middle East, the Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait. While China's defense budget is enjoying double-digit growth every year, the number of missiles deployed by the Chinese military targeting Taiwan has risen to more than 600 and is increasing by 60 to 70 per year, Tsai said. With defense spending as a share of the national budget declining year after year, the Ministry of National Defense has put forth a special budget proposal for the NT$610.8 billion (US$18.23 billion) arms procurement, Tsai noted. Tsai argued that Taiwan must keep its military capability strong to maintain cross-strait peace and that the military balance across the Strait in the past managed to deter China from invading Taiwan.
■ Energy
CPC to build gas tankers
Taiwan's state-run Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) is planning to build four tankers to deliver liquefied natural gas from Qatar to the Taiwan Power Company's Tatan power plant, CPC officials said yesterday. The tankers are estimated to cost US$600 million and the CPC will invite tenders from shipbuilders later this year, the officials said. In addition to the CPC, the liquefied natural gas supplier in Qatar has expressed an interest in the project, they said. The CPC, the liquefied natural gas supplier and the shipbuilder winning the tender will form a partnership that will be in charge of building the ships, arranging the shipping schedule as well as managing and maintaining the ships, they added.
■ Diplomacy
New envoy arrives in UK
Lin Chun-yi (林俊義), Taiwan's new representative to the UK, arrived in London from Gambia to assume his post on Friday. Lin was greeted warmly at Heathrow International Airport by Taiwanese expatriates residing in the UK, as well as the staff of the Taipei Representative Office. The new representative will be briefed by office staff to learn about the London operations and will start calling on government agencies, parliament, think tanks and industrial and financial institutions next Monday. Lin holds a PhD in biology from Indiana University in the US and was a professor at Tunghai University and a member of the Environmen-tal Protection Agency before serving as ambassador to Gambia.
■ Politics
US anti-CCP march planned
About 30 Chinese groups in the US plan to stage a march in Washington today to protest against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and urging Chinese around the world to end communism. The march, staged to show solidarity with a campaign to end communism initiated by 60 private and human rights groups around the world, is aimed at encouraging CCP members to desert their party. Organizers of the march said the campaign was triggered by nine anti-communism articles published on an online Chinese-language weekly, the Epoch Times. They said the articles have prompted a "communism-deserting wave" in China, to the alarm of Beijing leaders.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
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