Delays in signing the US’ arms procurement offer could force the government to restart the eight-month procurement process, slowing military upgrades and raising doubts among allies about Taiwan’s commitment to self-defense, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said today.
The Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee met today, calling Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) and other defense officials to present on weapon procurements and consequences of delaying review of the NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.68 billion) special defense budget.
As military funding first goes to ongoing projects, the standard budget is not enough to cover new projects necessary to quickly boost combat capabilities, Department of Strategic Planning Director Lieutenant General Huang Wen-chi (黃文啓) said in response to questions about why the special defense budget was not included in the general budget.
Photo: Huang Ching-hsuan, Taipei Times
In addition, weapons take time to be produced and delivered after funding is allocated, so equipment would not arrive fast enough to solve urgent needs, Huang said.
Countries globally are increasing their defense budgets and would be buying large amounts of military equipment in the coming years, many of which overlap with Taiwan’s needs, he said.
As there is growing competition for the same resources, Taiwan needs to secure the asymmetric defense equipment it needs as soon as possible, he added.
As more than 30 days have passed since Washington notified the US Congress, Taiwan should receive the military procurement pricing offer soon, Huang said.
Taiwan would then have 45 days to process and sign the letter, which could theoretically be extended once, he said.
If Taiwan does not process the pricing letter in time and the US does not agree to extend its offer, Taiwan would have to go through the entire process again, which could take more than eight months, he said.
Taiwan submitted its arms procurement request in March last year, so the process has already taken more than eight months, he added.
Delays in signing the pricing letter could stall Taiwan’s military upgrades and make the US and democratic allies question its commitment to self-defense, Koo said.
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS