The navy has just completed a talks with its US counterpart on the purchase of eight diesel-powered submarines from the US, defense sources said yesterday.
The two sides reached an agreement in the week of talks on what type of submarine that the US will provide to Taiwan.
The US delegation initially tried to persuade the Taiwan navy to accept Israeli-built submarines, but it insisted on submarines designed and manufactured by Germany, which was accepted by the US.
The US delegation, led by Navy International Programs Department Deputy Director Captain Gibson LeBoeuf, was composed of seven members from different branches of the navy. Some were members of a submarine task force specially assembled by the US navy to handle the submarine deal.
The delegation, though not high in rank, was received by top leaders of the navy here, including Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Miao Yun-ching (苗永慶).
A naval official, who had access to information about the talks, said that while the two sides have reached some agreements, some differences remain.
"For instance, the US navy has asked us to pay a `pre-phase cost' of over US$10 million. We asked them to provide details about what the `pre-phase cost' is to be used for. They refused and just told us to pay it," the official said.
"The navy leaders are not happy about the US request for the `pre-phase' cost. They are worried that the money could be used inappropriately without their knowledge. If that is the case, they might be involved in a scandal of some sort," he said.
"The navy had tried to ask Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明) to make the decision on their behalf. But Tang turned down their request, saying the navy should have the authority to make the decision for itself," he said.
"To give or not to give -- that is the question now. The navy leaders are in a dilemma: if they decide to pay the `pre-phase' cost to the US, they have to take full responsibility for the decision, but if not, they also have to take responsibility for any possible twists in the submarine deal," he said.
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it. There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the museum’s Web site says. Taiwan would be able to observe one of the lunar eclipses in its entirety on March 3. The eclipse would be visible as the moon rises at 5:50pm, already partly shaded by the Earth’s shadow, the museum said. It would peak at about 7:30pm, when the moon would
Taiwan’s Li Yu-hsiang performs in the men’s singles figure skating short program at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday. Li finished 24th with a score of 72.41 to advance to Saturday’s free skate portion of the event. He is the first Taiwanese to qualify for the free skate of men’s singles figure skating at the Olympics since David Liu in 1992.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday held a ceremony marking the delivery of its 11th Anping-class offshore patrol vessel Lanyu (蘭嶼艦), saying it would boost Taiwan’s ability to respond to Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics. Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Chung-Lung (張忠龍) presided over the CGA event in the Port of Kaoshiung. Representatives of the National Security Council also attended the event. Designed for long-range and protracted patrol operations at sea, the Lanyu is a 65.4m-long and 14.8m-wide ship with a top speed of 44 knots (81.5kph) and a cruising range of 2,000 nautical miles (3704km). The vessel is equipped with a
A KFC branch in Kaohsiung may be fined between NT$60,000 and NT$200 million (US$1,907 and US$6.37 million), after a customer yesterday found an entire AAA battery inside an egg tart, the Kaohsiung Department of Health said today. The customer was about to microwave a box of egg tarts they had bought at the fast-food restaurant’s Nanzih (楠梓) branch when they checked the bottom and saw a dark shadow inside one of them, they said in a Threads post. The customer filmed themself taking the egg tart apart to reveal an entire AAA battery inside, which apparently showed signs of damage. Surveillance footage showed
RSS