The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday made public its blue paper on national defense, vowing to push for domestically made submarines as well as next-generation warplanes if it returns to power in the 2016 presidential election.
“The DPP is determined to revive national defense,” DPP Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) told a news conference at the party’s headquarters yesterday morning. “Our first determination is to promote Taiwanese-built submarines and the self-production of warplanes, and our second determination is that the DPP create an open and competitive environment to promote upgrading the national defense industry.”
He said that if the DPP returns to power in 2016, it would make sure that national defense budgets would be at least 3 percent of GDP, which would be an increase of approximately NT$110 billion (US$3.61 billion) over the current average national defense budget of NT$319 billion.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
“We would make sure that our armed forces would have the best equipment with a sufficient budget,” Wu said. “It would also help to boost the economy and create more employment opportunities.”
Chen Wen-cheng (陳文政), an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies who also attended the press conference, supported the DPP proposal.
“Although arms purchases are often seen by top officials in the national security system as important in Taiwan’s collaboration with foreign allies, arms deals could also often become deadlocked due to political issues,” Chen said, adding that it is therefore important for the nation to have the capacity to produce its own military equipment.
Wu said that he would take the blue paper to the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference set to begin tomorrow in Williamsburg, Virginia, to discuss the party’s national defense policies with US officials, think tank members and Taiwanese defense officials.
“There will be no partisan division, though partisan division is normal in a democracy like Taiwan. When we are abroad, we all represent Taiwan — regardless of party affiliations,” Wu said.
The paper was the seventh of 12 blue papers the DPP plans to publish before May next year to present a full picture of the party’s national defense policy.
A source within the party said that the previous papers have been well-received among the national defense circle in the US.
Food delivery provider Foodpanda had 564 consumer disputes from January to last month and failed to attend many mediation sessions with local governments nationwide, the Executive Yuan’s Consumer Protection Committee said. In a news release earlier this month, the committee said that it investigated consumer complaints and mediations for Foodpanda and rival Uber Eats during the period, when the number of delivery orders jumped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Uber Eats had 80 consumer disputes, the committee said. Of Foodpanda’s consumer disputes, 368 resulted from delivery drivers canceling orders after customers could not be reached, 108 were related to the quality or quantity
‘HONEYMOON’ IS OVER: A political science professor said that the Tsai administration’s popularity peaked after it successfully contained COVID-19, but is waning President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) and Premier Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) approval ratings fell significantly this month in the wake of the government’s handling of the distribution of relief funds and stimulus coupons to people and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, a poll released yesterday by the New Power Party (NPP) showed. The poll showed that 68 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with Tsai’s performance, down 8.9 percentage points from last month, while 21 percent said they disapproved of her performance. Her approval among respondents aged 20 to 29 fell 14.7 percentage points, the largest decrease when compared with other age
Passengers arriving at Taoyuan International Airport will find that most entrances to both terminals have been sealed off as part of its COVID-19 prevention efforts. Follow the signs and directions posted on the doors to find the nearest entry point. The airport has installed infrared cameras and thermometer guns at all open entrances, and all persons with a temperature of over 37.5 degrees Celsius are prohibited from entering the terminal. In addition, staff will take the temperature of those checking in to their flights in advance at Airport MRT stations A1 and A3. In accordance with the Centers of Disease
A 35-year-old man has undergone a 3D endoscopic mastectomy, after having injected himself with more than 3 liters of soybean oil over eight years. The man, whose name was not revealed, had complained that his breasts were becoming loose and losing their shape, said Chunghwa Christian Hospital Endoscopic Mastectomy Center director Lai Hung-wen (賴鴻文), who performed the surgery last year. At age 27, the man began searching for inexpensive breast augmentation methods, before learning about soybean oil injection from a cosmetic surgery Web site, Lai said. Over the past eight years, the man injected himself at home 10 times, starting with about 50ml
RSS