The military is committed to its locally developed submarine program and once progress is made, it expects other countries to express interest in making submarine deals, Minister of National Defense Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) said on Friday.
Feng said that investing in the research and development of a local submarine involves considerable risk, but added that it might also attract interest from other countries to sell Taiwan arms.
If that scenario plays out, the ministry would decide whether to continue with the program to build submarines or purchase them from overseas, Feng was quoted as saying by Control Yuan member Chen Ching-tsai (陳慶財).
Led by Control Yuan President Chang Po-ya (張博雅), Chen and other Control Yuan members visited the Executive Yuan on an inspection tour earlier on Friday.
Chen, who heads the Control Yuan’s Committee on National Defense and Intelligence Affairs, said at a news conference following the visit that he asked questions about the development of local submarines and fighter jets, as well as military discipline.
Feng said that Taiwan faces great difficulties in procuring arms from other countries and that for the time being, the military remains committed to the local submarine program, according to Chen.
Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said that Taiwan already has the ability to build patrol boats and he hopes that the local submarine program would help to upgrade the nation’s ship-building industry and ultimately result in the technical expertise needed to build submarines.
On the issue of military aircraft, Lin said that Taiwan will continue to develop indigenous fighter jets, based on the experience of the locally developed IDF, one of the Republic of China (ROC) Air Force’s three main combat aircraft.
The military launched the local submarine program to replace the ROC Navy’s aging fleet of submarines, the first stage being the completion of a design.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
RSS