The Ministry of National Defense should solicit different views and be open to inter-agency cooperation to determine whether local firms have the capacity and ability to handle government shipbuilding projects, legislators said on Friday.
The comments came in light of further delays to the bidding process for the Hung Yun project, which is seeking contractors to develop a new type of amphibious warship.
Both the Hung Yun project and the minesweeper project awarded to Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co have suffered from a lack of financial expertise when designing and reviewing contracts, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) said.
Engaging experts could help weed out unsuitable contractors such as Ching Fu, Wang said.
Ching Fu was contracted by the ministry to build six minesweepers, but the agreement was terminated last month after the company failed to meet contractual obligations.
After the cancelation, the ministry launched a general reassessment of its bidding procedures and defense needs, and delayed the projected bid for the Hung Yun project to May.
It is unknown whether the planned projects exceed the capacity and capabilities of local shipbuilders, Wang said, adding that such uncertainty could lead to increased overhead for shipbuilders, as well as reduced bidding interest.
The projects should be prioritized according to defense needs and the abilities of local shipbuilders should be determined in collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Wang said.
Unlike arms purchases from the US, which are subject to exchange rate variations, there should not ebe big discrepancies between quotes and initial estimates for local projects, DPP Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said.
The defense ministry should be more open to suggestions from other sectors, as bidder assessments and contract design should not be approached only from a military angle, Lo said.
The ministry should launch a general review of all of its procurement procedures, as it has proven to be incapable of halting a program after discovering potential flaws, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Jason Hsu (許毓仁) said.
KMT Legislator Lu Yu-ling (呂玉玲) said he would applaud it if the ministry simplified its procedures, but it should not scrap necessary assessments and reviews.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
Tourism in Kenting fell to a historic low for the second consecutive year last year, impacting hotels and other local businesses that rely on a steady stream of domestic tourists, the latest data showed. A total of 2.139 million tourists visited Kenting last year, down slightly from 2.14 million in 2024, the data showed. The number of tourists who visited the national park on the Hengchun Peninsula peaked in 2015 at 8.37 million people. That number has been below 2.2 million for two years, although there was a spike in October last year due to multiple long weekends. The occupancy rate for hotels
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Snow this morning fell on Alishan for the first time in seven years, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Alishan weather station, located at an elevation of about 2,200m in central Taiwan, recorded snowfall from 8:55am to 9:15am, when the temperature dropped to about 1°C, the CWA said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. The last time snow fell at the Alishan weather station was on Jan. 10, 2018, while graupel fell there
RSS