US-based Foreign Policy magazine says that Taiwan should “mimic mainland China’s missile program” rather than ask the US to sell it advanced F-16C/D aircraft.
“Mobile launchers, which unlike airfields could evade detection and targeting, could support both -battlefield and strategic missiles that could hold targets on the mainland at risk,” says an article on the magazine’s Web site called “This Week at War: Rumsfeld’s Revenge.”
“Such a program could do a better job of restoring a military balance across the Taiwan Strait than would fixed-wing aircraft operating from vulnerable bases,” said the article by Robert Haddick, who writes a weekly column for the magazine.
Haddrick adds that Taiwan has long been pursuing a variety of indigenous missile types, but that engineers have yet to work all of the bugs out.
“A test last week of a new supersonic anti-ship cruise missile failed to find its target. This followed two more failed tests earlier this year of other missile designs,” he says. “But Taiwan’s struggle to adapt to the immense missile threat from the mainland — over a thousand ballistic missiles are now aimed at Taiwan and a hundred more are added every year — also applies to US military strategy in the region.”
“United States military plans can no more rely on fixed bases and concentrated surface naval forces than Taiwan can. In the meantime, Taiwan could use some missile engineers instead of more F-16s,” he says.
Haddick, managing editor of Small Wars Journal and a former US Marine Corps officer, reports that the administration of US President Barack Obama sold Taiwan a package of exclusively defensive equipment in January last year and that as a result “blew up” the Pentagon’s relationship with Beijing for more than a year.
“An F-16 deal would undoubtedly be even more explosive,” Haddrick’s article says.
It says that both former US president George W Bush and Obama have demurred on Taiwan’s F-16 request “for good reason.” China’s ballistic and cruise missile force is more than capable of crushing Taiwan’s airfields, rendering its fixed-wing air power nearly useless, it says.
“Anticipating this, Taiwan has plans to fly its fighters from highways. But this is no way to generate enough sorties to confront a high-intensity attack from China,” he says. “Fighter aircraft need maintenance, fuel, ordnance and much other support, all of which are efficiently located at modern airbases, not by the side of a highway.”
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
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,
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
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