European countries are helping with the indigenous submarine project, the Ministry of National Defense said, in a rare admission that the sensitive program is not receiving assistance solely from the US.
The US government in 2018 gave the green light for US manufacturers to participate in the program, a move widely seen as helping Taiwan secure major components, although it is unclear which US companies are involved.
In a statement late on Friday, the ministry denied a report in US-based magazine The National Interest, which cited Taiwanese news reports from 2019 as saying that North Korea had discussed helping Taiwan with the submarines.
Photo: Reuters
“In the development of our submarines there has never been, there is not now and will never be any contact with North Korea; assistance is all provided by important countries in Europe and the United States,” the ministry said, without giving details.
European countries are generally wary of allowing arms sales to the nation due to fear of angering China, although in 2018 Taiwan said that it was talking to a company based in the British territory of Gibraltar about the new submarine fleet’s design.
Two of Taiwan’s four active submarines were built in the Netherlands in the 1980s, although the country refused to sell Taiwan any after that.
France has also sold Taiwan frigates and fighter jets.
Taiwan last year said that it was seeking to buy equipment from France to upgrade the ships’ missile interference systems.
CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) began building the new submarines last year, aiming to deliver the first of the eight planned vessels in 2025.
Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) last month said that the US had approved the export of sensitive technology to equip the fleet.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary