Taiwan denied yesterday having halted a plan to upgrade its domestically made Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) fighter aircraft, saying the fate of the plan would be decided next month.
“All the Ministry of National Defense’s plans must be submitted to the Cabinet for approval. The Cabinet thinks some parts of our plan [to upgrade the IDFs] need to be clarified, so the ministry has asked the air force to send a report to the Cabinet,” ministry spokeswoman Lisa Chi (池玉蘭) told the Central News Agency.
“The Cabinet has not decided if the plan should be halted yet. As far as I know, the Cabinet will not make a decision until the end of August,” Chih said, responding to a newspaper report that claimed Taiwan had suspended the upgrade to avoid undermining warming ties with Beijing.
On July 14, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) quoted an unnamed military source as saying that the Cabinet had instructed the ministry to halt the Hsiang Chan Project next year.
The paper reported that the Cabinet had said it would still allocate next year’s NT$1 billion (US$32 million) budget for the Hsiang Chan Project, but that the Air Force should use the money for other purposes.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
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