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.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
RSS