Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明) said yesterday that the military has not received any response from the US about its plan to buy Arleigh Burke-class destroyers which are equipped with state-of-the-art AEGIS radars.
Tang was responding to questions at a Legislative Yuan plenary session about his views on a newspaper report that Tai-pei had asked Washington for four AEGIS-equipped destroyers before Chinese President Jiang Zemin (
According to the press report, the US has tentatively agreed to sell the advanced warships to Taiwan and is expected to announce the sale "early next year at the earliest."
Meanwhile, military spokesman Major General Huang Suey-sheng (
Huang stressed that the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are the warship that the military has consistently sought to buy to beef up its naval defense capabilities.
Huang said even if the US agrees to sell this type of warship to Taiwan, it will take eight to 10 years for the military to take delivery of any of the newly built Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
Commenting on reports that the US may sell Taiwan some of the five Arleigh Burke-class warships it plans to retire in 2004, Huang said the US now needs more warships to support its war on terrorism.
"The advanced warships to be retired are more likely to be used as experimental warships to test America's anti-missile capabilities," he noted.
In view of the long lead time needed to acquire the AEGIS-equipped destroyers, Huang said Taiwan must first buy the four Kidd-class destroyers offered by the US to upgrade its naval combat capabilities. The Kidd-class warships are much cheaper than the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and can be delivered three years after signing the procurement contract.
US President George W. Bush deferred the sale of AEGIS-equipped destroyers in April last year when he announced the most comprehensive arms sale to Taipei since 1992. But according to the latest press report, the two sides have reached consensus on the type of AEGIS destroyers and weaponry to be sold to Taiwan.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry