Taiwan must maintain proper defense capabilities to ensure its security until the termination of cross-strait military confrontation, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers said yesterday.
According to KMT caucus whip Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源), the establishment of a cross-strait military confidence-building mechanism as proposed by KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) during talks on Friday with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) in Beijing is a goal that the KMT hopes will reduce cross-strait hostility and halt the arms race.
However, this did not mean that Taiwan should halt all of its arms procurement plans, he said.
Trim the package
Cho said the KMT would consult with other parties to trim the NT$480 billion (US$15.19 billion) arms-procurement package proposed by the Ministry of National Defense so that the needs of the nation are met.
The package includes a squadron of 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft, six Patriot PAC-III anti-missile batteries and eight diesel-electric submarines from the US.
KMT Legislator Shuai Hua-min (帥化民), the former head of the National Defense Management College, said that while pursuing cross-strait peace, Taiwan needed to maintain sufficient defense capabilities to preserve its leverage for negotiating with China.
`Necessary investment'
Shuai said it was necessary to invest in arms procurement but to avoid any wasteful procurement items.
According to Shuai, Taiwan and China will have to exchange dialogue on military issues sooner or later, depending on the political atmosphere in the Taiwan Strait.
He said that Taiwan's military deployments should be guided by the concept of "survival is victory," and that the governments on both sides of the Strait should avoid political manipulation in order to prevent military conflict.
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the