Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Monday told US defense industry officials that under a DPP administration, Taiwan’s indigenous defense industry would expand and deepen.
He said that, as a result of DPP encouragement, there were an unprecedented number of senior executives from Taiwan’s industries — 30 from 19 different companies — attending the 14th annual US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia.
“They are the team representing a national determination to defend our nation and represent our vision to move our defense forward,” he told the conference.
Wu said the industrialists were from the aviation, shipbuilding and cybersecurity sectors.
He said that some defense items were politically sensitive and difficult for the US to sell and thus, “we would like to have the confidence of producing them in Taiwan with the necessary assistance and support of the US.”
Wu urged Taiwanese companies and the US to discuss in side meetings and “learn how we can find good business opportunities together.”
He said China’s growing military might looms over the Taiwan Strait.
“We do not want to see regional tension evolve into military conflict, we do not want Taiwan to be engulfed in military conflict should it occur and we certainly do not want our vulnerability to attract aggression,” Wu said.
He said Taiwan’s capability or vulnerability deserved a deeper look.
“Even though the cross-strait policies pursued by the current Taiwanese administration are said to have reduced tensions with China, the threat is nonetheless increasing,” Wu said.
He said that with less investment in defense and an unsuccessful attempt to change the recruitment system, Taiwan is more vulnerable than ever.
“The best way for Taiwan to prevent a war from being initiated against it would be for us to acquire credible deterrent capabilities,” Wu said. “We want to strengthen ourselves militarily to maintain cross-strait peace, and if a conflict were unfortunately to take place, we would have the necessary means to survive.”
Wu said that if the DPP returns to power in next year’s Jan. 16 presidential election, it plans to improve the nation’s naval, airborne and cyberdefense capabilities.
If the US will not sell needed weapons, Wu said, “going indigenous is the only meaningful alternative.”
However, Taiwan has an edge in the cyberdomain, which is not being properly and seriously used by the defense establishment.
Wu said that DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) had presided over a series of intense discussions aimed at preparing the future of Taiwan’s defense industry.
He said that he was more confident than ever that Taiwan could count on its indigenous industry.
Wu added that he was particularly excited about Taiwan’s potential in cyberdefense.
Senior executives from cybersecurity firm Trend Micro have met with DPP military experts and plan to upgrade some products for military use, Wu said.
Wu said that Taiwanese talent could be relied upon for the nation’s cyberdefense.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS