The Ministry of National Defense yesterday denied a magazine report saying Taiwan plans to procure four German-made -diesel-electric submarines that were originally intended for Greece.
The Hong Kong-based Chinese-language magazine, Asian Week, reported in its latest edition that Greece had ordered four Type 214 diesel-electric submarines from German company Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW), but because Greece was struggling to save itself from bankruptcy and was unable to pay for the submarines, HDW planned to sell them to Taiwan.
The report said HDW would otherwise face bankruptcy.
The ministry yesterday released a statement denying the report.
The ministry said Taiwan has been seeking to acquire diesel--electric submarines through an arms sale from the US. It would be a government-to-government procurement, the ministry added.
According to the Asian Week report, HDW officials in October secretly visited Taipei to discuss selling the four Type 214 submarines to Taiwan and that the military showed interest in the sale.
The report said the military told HDW officials that if the submarines did not cost more than US$800 -million each, if the company could promise between 10 and 20 years of logistics maintenance and if the company represented Taiwan to negotiate with the US and the US agreed to the arms sale, Taiwan would procure the submarines.
The report added that HDW had officially informed the US about the proposal.
The Type 214 is a diesel-electric submarine developed by HDW. It features diesel propulsion with an air-independent propulsion system using Siemens polymer electrolyte membrane hydrogen fuel cells.
The Asian Week report said the Type 214 was one of most advanced diesel-electric submarines in the world and could meet Taiwan’s defense requirements.
In 2001, former US president George W. Bush’s administration offered to provide eight diesel-electric submarines to Taiwan for about US$12 billion.
The deal did not materialize due to political wrangling in Taiwan’s legislature, moves by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the US to appease Beijing amid efforts at cross-strait reconciliation and pressure from China on Washington.
Military experts have said the ministry had given up on acquiring submarines from the US and had decided to launch an indigenous program with foreign assistance.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS