The Ministry of National Defense has received a letter of acceptance (LOA) from the US for the sale of High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) that expires on March 26, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday.
Koo confirmed receipt of the LOA while speaking with reporters at the legislature.
The US announced the sale of 82 HIMARS to Taiwan on Dec. 17 last year at an estimated cost of US$4.05 billion as part of a historic US$11.1 billion arms package.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
An LOA is a binding document confirming that a foreign government agrees to buy military equipment under a regulated government program, and gives the US government the authority to contract US weapons firms to manufacture and acquire the systems.
The offer expires if the buyer does not sign the LOA by the deadline, and the deal would have to be reviewed again.
In addition to the HIMARS letter, Taiwan has received LOAs for M109A7 self-propelled howitzers (US$4.03 billion), Javelin anti-armor missiles (US$375 million) and TOW missiles (US$353 million).
The deadline for signing those LOAs is Sunday, the ministry said.
The ministry said it is still awaiting the acceptance letter for Altius-700M and Altius-600 drones.
Koo expressed the hope that the legislature would swiftly authorize the ministry to sign the LOAs for all five systems, particularly the HIMARS, saying that the acquisition could be “significantly impacted” if the agreement is not signed in time.
The government and opposition-controlled legislature have been at loggerheads over the financing of weapons procurements the government considers necessary for Taiwan’s defense.
The Executive Yuan has proposed a special budget of NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.27 billion) to cover the acquisition of domestic and foreign-made weapons systems over the next eight years, but opposition parties have only proposed a budget of NT$380 billion to NT$400 billion to fund purchases for weapons in the US$11.1 billion arms package.
Finding agreement on the LOAs with upcoming deadlines could happen before the funding bills are reconciled.
A motion submitted by the opposition Taiwan People’s Party authorizing the ministry to sign the first three LOAs on Friday advanced to a second reading, but cross-caucus negotiations would have to be held for the motion to advance further.
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”
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
A group affiliated with indicted Chinese immigrant Xu Chunying (徐春鶯) is to be dissolved for monitoring Chinese immigrants in Taiwan, a source said yesterday. Xu, the secretary-general of the Cross-Strait Marriage and Family Service Alliance, was indicted on March 24 on charges of violating the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法). The alliance “illegally monitored" Chinese immigrants living in Taiwan on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Ministry of the Interior is expected to dissolve the organization in the coming days under provisions of the Civil Associations Act (人民團體法), the source said. Xu, who married a Taiwanese in 1993 and became a Republic
RSS