Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday.
Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities.
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he set out to do.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The resignation also coincides with the handing off of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration to the in-coming administration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), Vivian Huang said.
Huang Shu-kuang recently filed defamation lawsuits against media personalities demanding NT$2 million (US$61,557) in damages over allegations of corruption during his time overseeing the submarine project.
Under the admiral’s watch, the nation’s first domestically made submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤), or Narwhal, was launched in Kaohsiung in September last year. It is undergoing harbor acceptance tests.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台船) chairman Cheng Wen-lon (鄭文隆) last month said that the nation’s first domestically built submarine would be ready for delivery by the deadline of Nov. 3 next year.
Huang Shu-kuang’s plan was to stagger the production of seven indigenous submarines over three phases: three in the first phase, including the Hai Kun prototype and two others, followed by a final batch with performance upgrades.
The source said that during an internal meeting, Lai asked that production funding for the submarines be provided in full in one budget.
However, with Huang Shu-kuang’s exit, the Ministry of National Defense and Navy Command Headquarters would take over the project, which would change production timelines, the source said.
Navy Commander Tang Hua (唐華) has other opinions regarding the construction of a naval force and improving combat readiness, such as the planned littoral combatant command, they said.
According to the navy, the command would control the Hai Feng Shore Based Anti-ship Missile Group, a unit of speedboats armed with anti-air and surface-to-surface missiles, and maritime surveillance. The command would oversee all defense-related affairs within 24 nautical miles (44.4km) of the coast.
Tang has also commented on submarine production, saying that their manufacture, equipment and functions, and strategic deployment should be based on the combat environment that Taiwan might face.
That could require new thinking on how submarines would be deployed, the source said.
Whether Tang’s opinions on the program would align with National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Wellington Koo’s (顧立雄) vision or would receive the support of Lai, depends on the who is in the Cabinet after the presidential inauguration on May 20, the source said.
Additional reporting by Lee Wen-hsin
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
CHAMPIONS: President Lai congratulated the players’ outstanding performance, cheering them for marking a new milestone in the nation’s baseball history Taiwan on Sunday won their first Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) title in 29 years, as Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School defeated a team from Las Vegas 7-0 in the championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was Taiwan’s first championship in the annual tournament since 1996, ending a nearly three-decade drought. “It has been a very long time ... and we finally made it,” Taiwan manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) said after the game. Lai said he last managed a Dong Yuan team in at the South Williamsport in 2015, when they were eliminated after four games. “There is
Democratic nations should refrain from attending China’s upcoming large-scale military parade, which Beijing could use to sow discord among democracies, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Shen You-chung (沈有忠) said. China is scheduled to stage the parade on Wednesday next week to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. The event is expected to mobilize tens of thousands of participants and prominently showcase China’s military hardware. Speaking at a symposium in Taichung on Thursday, Shen said that Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) recently met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to New Delhi.
FINANCES: The KMT plan to halt pension cuts could bankrupt the pension fund years earlier, undermining intergenerational fairness, a Ministry of Civil Service report said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ proposal to amend the law to halt pension cuts for civil servants, teachers and military personnel could accelerate the depletion of the Public Service Pension Fund by four to five years, a Ministry of Civil Service report said. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) on Aug. 14 said that the Act Governing Civil Servants’ Retirement, Discharge and Pensions (公務人員退休資遣撫卹法) should be amended, adding that changes could begin as soon as after Saturday’s recall and referendum. In a written report to the Legislative Yuan, the ministry said that the fund already faces a severe imbalance between revenue