The head of the Ministry of National Defense's political warfare department, General Hu Chen-pu (
The 12 P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, he said, would also be included in the regular defense budget, which would leave the eight diesel-electric submarines, worth NT$299 billion (US$9.0 billion) as the only item in the special budget.
This was the best the ministry could offer the legislature, Hu said.
He said that to have all three systems added to the regular defense budget was not feasible.
Hu's offer came as the pan-blue alliance prepared to send the weapons bill from the legislative floor back to the Procedure Committee for further screening.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Tseng Yung-chuan (
Before the Dec. 3 elections, the pan-blue coalition of the KMT, the People First Party (PFP) and blue-friendly independents held 115 seats, while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), held 100.
After the Dec. 3 polls, which saw four KMT legislators win local posts that will result in them vacating their seats, the pan-blue camp will only retain a majority of 111 out of the 220 seats, with independent lawmakers retaining nine seats.
PFP caucus whip Hwang Yih-jiau (黃義交) criticized the pan-green camp for staging a "surprise attack" during Tuesday's committee meeting in order to push through all bills listed on the committee agenda, including the arms procurement package. The bills passed the committee because of a smaller attendance by the committee's pan-blue members.
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In related news, DPP Legislator Chai Trong-rong (
While the pan-blue camp will continue to dominate the Procedure Committee, Chai said that the only way to show the nation's resolve to defend itself is to put the arms procurement package to a popular vote and let the people have the final say on the matter.
Chai also pledged to put the party asset bill to a national ballot, as well as the abolition of township chief and village warden elections.
The party asset bill is designed to compel the KMT to return its stolen party assets.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
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