The latest domestically designed and built 600-tonne class Coast Guard Administration (CGA) vessel, the Yong Kang (永康艦), was yesterday formally launched by Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) in Kaohsiung as part of efforts to beef up the nation’s coastal patrol capabilities amid rising tensions with China.
The government has pledged to spend US$1.31 billion in building 141 ships of six different types for the CGA between 2018 and 2027, Hsiao said during the ceremony.
The Yong Kang is the eighth 600-tonne Anping-class missile corvette to be launched as part of the project, she said.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
The vessel’s launch highlights the determination of the government to patrol the seas around the country and to safeguard its people and fishing rights, she said.
The ship would be responsible for patrolling off southern Taiwan during peacetime and serve as a force of defense during wartime, she added.
The 10-year domestic shipbuilding project has not only boosted the CGA’s patrol capabilities, but also created thousands of jobs for the local shipbuilding industry, while increasing the sector’s international competitiveness, Hsiao said.
Photo: CNA
The project includes constructing four 4,000-tonne, six 1,000-tonne, 12 600-tonne, 17 100-tonne and 52 35-tonne patrol vessels, along with 50 littoral utility boats.
Also at the ceremony, the CGA also christened its ninth Anping-class missile corvette, the Chang Bin (長濱艦), which once finished and delivered, would be deployed to patrol off eastern Taiwan, the coast guard said.
The CGA has been busy expelling Chinese vessels and warships out of waters surrounding Kinmen County, near China’s Fujian Province, following a fatal collision earlier this year that escalated cross-strait tensions.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
Previously, official Chinese vessels seldom traveled into the prohibited waters around Kinmen, which were restricted to non-Taiwanese vessels by the Ministry of National Defense beginning in 1992.
However, Beijing has continued to send vessels into the area in protest following the fatal incident on Feb. 14 off the coast of Kinmen that killed two Chinese nationals when their boat capsized while being pursued by the CGA.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS