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DPP slams AIDC plan to work with Chinese firm

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday criticized the government-owned Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation’s (AIDC) proposal to co-­produce commercial aircraft with a Chinese aviation company.

The AIDC yesterday confirmed it had proposed cooperating with China Commercial Aircraft Co to co-assemble commercial airplanes.

“The AIDC receives 80 percent of its business from the military, and has been a very important player in the domestic arms industry. China is an enemy of Taiwan. How can a domestic company responsible for developing Taiwan’s air defense technology cooperate with the enemy?” DPP Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) said at a press conference yesterday.

There was a strong chance military secrets would end up being leaked through the cooperation, he said.

Chai said because President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is leaning toward China and neglecting national security, it made sense that the US has hesitated to sell advanced arms to Taiwan as it has concerns that advanced technology could end up in Chinese hands.

Chai said Ma should stop jeopardizing Taiwan’s national security.

AIDC spokesman Lee Shih-chang (李適彰) confirmed a news report that the AIDC had proposed co-production of civilian aircraft with the Chinese company under the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ direction.

He said the company was well prepared to make sure military technology would not be leaked to China.

The AIDC and China Commercial Aircraft plan to complete production of their first commercial airplane by 2014.

The Taiwanese company said when thinking about cross-strait aviation exchange, the assembly of civil aircraft and parts production management were two areas worth considering.

The AIDC had said that while the civil aviation market in Taiwan was rather limited because of the size of the nation, the market had nearly been destroyed since the launch of the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp.

The AIDC was founded in 1969 under the authority of the Air Force. In 1996 the company was transformed from a military entity into a government-owned company under the authority of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

The company produced Taiwan’s Indigenous Defense Fighter.
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