The procurement of 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft from the United States will meet the military's minimum combat demand and expand its undersea surveillance scope more than 10-fold, according to a report presented yesterday to the legislature by the Ministry of National Defense.
While seven of the planes are expected to be delivered to Taiwan in 2009, the other five will be delivered in 2011, the report says.
It says the ministry originally reserved NT$53.04 billion (US$1.7 billion) in a special budget proposal for the 12 aircraft, but the amount has recently been adjusted to NT$45.04 billion following changes in the exchange rate and cutbacks in spending and coverage of some of the amount by the government's regular budget.
It points out that the military's existing S-2T anti-submarine planes, which have been in service for more than 40 years, are no longer capable of meeting the military's combat demands and that the military needs to replace the planes to enhance its three-dimensional anti-submarine capabilities.
China has in recent years developed the Song-class submarine and nuclear-powered submarines and has also purchased Kilo-class submarines from Russia, the report notes.
In the event of a Chinese blockade of Taiwan, the nation's economy and security will be seriously jeopardized, it says.
Lin Chin-ching (林勤經), head of the ministry's Integrated Assessment Office, predicted that China will have the ability to build aircraft carriers in 2008 and to form an aircraft carrier battle group in 2015 to gain sea dominance in the Taiwan Strait.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
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