Legislators castigated the Ministry of National Defense (MND) regarding the name for Taiwan’s latest warship class, the Tuo Jiang-class corvette (沱江艦), demanding that the vessel’s designation be changed and saying the military has flouted a 2005 legislative resolution.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) led the renaming drive on Wednesday, a day after the nation’s newest corvette, the Tuo Jiang 618, was commissioned into active service by the navy at the east coast port of Suao (蘇澳).
Questioning Minister of National Defense Yen Ming (嚴明) at a legislative session, Tsai said he disapproved of the name “Tuo Jiang” because it is the name of a river in China, while the nation’s new vessels should be named after Taiwanese places and geographical features.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) followed up by asking Yen if the new corvette class’ name can be changed.
Yen responded that if the legislature passes a new resolution to change the name from “Tuo Jiang,” then the ministry would respect the legislators’ decision.
Tsai said the ministry’s decision to use the name “Tuo Jiang” for the new corvette class, referring to a river in China’s Sichuan Province, contravened a legislative resolution passed in 2005 that stipulated the military must name new warships and submarines after historic figures, places and geographical features in Taiwan.
Tsai said naming the nation’s vessels after places in China amounted to “singing a duet with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army [PLA]” and that “it further confused Taiwanese soldiers regarding which homeland nation they would be fighting for in time of war.
“When we have Taiwanese names for our warships and submarines, this can inspire our armed forces’ determination and fighting spirit in defense of our Taiwanese homeland,” Tsai added. “Therefore, I wish to see the MND respect the legislature’s resolution [in 2005].”
Other critics said the case indicated that some senior military officials are still stuck in the past, holding on to an old KMT ideology with pro-China sentiments and viewing China as their motherland, while denigrating the people and cultures of Taiwan.
Yen said the name of the new corvette class had an important historical meaning — to commemorate the original Tuo Jiang amphibious assault ship, which fought with distinction, but was heavily damaged in naval battles against PLA ships during the August to September phase of the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis.
That ship had been converted from a US PC-461-class submarine chaser. The original ship was 450 tonnes and 53m long, and was made by the shipbuilding firm Nashville Bridge Co in December 1943. After World War II ended, the US gave it to the Republic of China Navy in 1948.
In spite of the historic significance to the navy, Tsai said naming the new stealth missile corvette s“Tuo Jiang” is anachronistic and misguided.
“It has no meaning and no emotional attachment for citizens of this nation. More than 90 percent of Taiwanese have no idea where this river is,” Tsai said.
He requested that the public be alowed to participate in a contest to give the new missile corvette class a name of Taiwanese origin.
However, Yen said that it is his personal wish that no change be made to the name of the ship.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
A mountain blaze that broke out yesterday morning in Yangmingshan National Park was put out after five hours, following multi agency efforts involving dozens of fire trucks and helicopter water drops. The fire might have been sparked by an air quality sensor operated by the National Center for High-Performance Computing, one of the national-level laboratories under the National Applied Research Laboratories, Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters said. The Taipei City Fire Department said the fire, which broke out at about 11am yesterday near the mountainous Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) Recreation Area was extinguished at 4:32pm. It had initially dispatched 72 personnel in four command vehicles, 16
RSS