The US has accelerated its delivery of military equipment purchased by Taiwan, including 16 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) that arrived on Jan. 7, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said, greatly bolstering the nation’s capability to deter military aggression from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Apart from 84 long-range guided missiles, the defense package also includes 29 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), a light multiple rocket launcher developed in the late 1990s for the US Army, as well as 64 precision rockets, two training simulators and associated equipment, the ministry said in its latest written report to the legislature.
For the procurement of the defense package, the ministry had allocated a budget of NT$32.52 billion (US$1.08 billion) that was to be paid out from 2020 to 2027.
Photo: CNA
The ATACMS, which have a shooting range of 300km, are scheduled to be delivered in two phases: 64 in the first phase and 20 in the second phase.
The first batch of 64 missiles —16 in total — arrived on Jan. 7, the report said, with the remaining 48 missiles scheduled to arrive during the first quarter. That means all 64 should have arrived if the delivery was on schedule.
Eleven sets of HIMARS and two training simulators were received on Sept. 26 last year.
Photo courtesy of the US Army via AP
Meanwhile, 18 sets of HIMARS, 20 ATACMS and 864 precision rockets are scheduled to arrive between next year and 2027.
To ensure on-time delivery, the ministry has project liaison officers stationed in the US to audit the production progress at US military arsenals every two months. This is to ensure strict oversight, and that the second batch of equipment and ammunition is completed and delivered between next year and 2027, the ministry said.
The first batch of 38 M1 tanks and five missile launch vehicles from the first batch of the shore-based Harpoon missile system have also arrived in Taiwan, the ministry added.
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
‘MISGUIDED EDICT’: Two US representatives warned that Somalia’s passport move could result in severe retaliatory consequences and urged it to reverse its decision Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has ordered that a special project be launched to counter China’s “legal warfare” distorting UN Resolution 2758, a foreign affairs official said yesterday. Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority on Wednesday cited UN Resolution 2758 and Mogadishu’s compliance with the “one China” principle as it banned people from entering or transiting in the African nation using Taiwanese passports or other Taiwanese travel documents. The International Air Transport Association’s system shows that Taiwanese passport holders cannot enter Somalia or transit there. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) protested the move and warned Taiwanese against traveling to Somalia or Somaliland
Four former Hong Kong opposition lawmakers jailed in the territory’s largest national security case were released yesterday after more than four years in prison, the first among dozens convicted last year to regain their freedom. Former legislators Claudia Mo (毛孟靜), Jeremy Tam (譚文豪), Kwok Ka-ki (郭家麒) and Gary Fan (范國威) were part of a group of 47 public figures — including some of Hong Kong’s best-known democracy advocates — who were charged with subversion in 2021 for holding an informal primary election. The case fell under a National Security Law imposed on the territory by Beijng, and drew international condemnation and warnings
RSS