Navy officials yesterday said the Ministry of National Defense will go ahead with its domestic submarine program, and several Taiwanese shipbuilders are seeking collaboration with foreign companies to undertake the work.
More than 20 US and European companies have expressed interest in working with Taiwanese counterparts to build new submarines for the Republic of China Navy, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Admiral Pu Tze-chun (蒲澤春) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
Pu said the ministry has discussed details of the project with local and overseas shipbuilders, and is assessing their qualifications to ascertain if they are capable of undertaking the project.
The vessels’ design is expected to be completed by 2019, Pu added.
Navy Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Hsiao Wei-min (蕭維民) said the overhaul program for the nation’s two World War II-era Tench-class submarines, which are now used for training, would be the first step toward carrying out the domestic building program.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) raised concerns over progress on overhaul work on the two 70-year-old US-built submarines, known as Hai Shih and Hai Pao.
Huang expressed concern over a lack of expertise and experience among Taiwanese shipbuilders conducting the overhaul work and that problems were encountered in dismantling the hulls, as some sections apparently cannot be put back into their original configuration.
Hsiao said the overhaul work is going well, and that the hulls were only partially dismantled. adding that so far, there have been no problems in the reassembly process.
The maintenance and renovation work associated with the overhaul is being carried out by contractor China Shipbuilding at the navy’s shipyard in Kaohsiung Harbor.
Ministry officials displayed a submarine propeller at Tuesday’s ship commissioning ceremony, at which they reiterated the military’s goal to acquire new vessels to improve the nation’s anti-submarine capabilities.
If the nation fails to acquire new submarines, it will undermine the defensive capabilities of our armed forces, Deputy Minister of National Defense Liu Chen-wu (劉震武) said.
Liu said the propeller was a demonstration of the navy’s desire to acquire new submarines.
He added that a domestic submarine program is needed by the navy and supported by the public.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwan does not exclude the possibility of having formal diplomatic relations with countries that also have formal ties with China, regardless of Beijing’s stance, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Sunday. There was speculation in 2012 that Honduras was attempting to have simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taiwan and China, an idea that then-minister of foreign affairs David Lin (林永樂) rejected. Honduras severed formal ties with Taiwan on Sunday morning after establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing. President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has taken a more practical approach to relations with like-minded countries since assuming government in 2016. Previous administrations took the
Seven senior faculty members, including the principal, of a high school in Taichung were temporarily suspended from their jobs on Friday, pending an investigation by the Taichung Education Bureau into alleged bullying and abuse that led to the suicide of a student last month. The city’s education officials were too slow to suspend those involved, the student’s father told a news conference on Wednesday, at which Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) and members of the Humanistic Education Foundation were also present. The boy had been a good student and a high achiever during elementary and junior-high, and had
Taiwan would have established formal relations with Argentina long ago if not for China’s interference, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui told US-based Spanish-language online news outlet Infobae in an interview published on Tuesday. Beijing has left behind a string of unfulfilled promises in Latin America, including pledges to build the Grand Nicaragua Canal and airports, docks, ports and industrial zones in El Salvador, he said. Meanwhile, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and other countries enjoy pragmatic and improving relations with Taiwan based on cooperation on the economy, culture, technology and science, he said. While Taiwan is “happy to live and let live,”
WASHED ASHORE: Of the 16 bodies discovered along Taiwan’s west coast this month, two were Vietnamese and five were Taiwanese, coast guard officials said Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) said that he has instructed prosecutors and maritime authorities to launch investigations after 16 bodies were found along Taiwan’s west coast this month, amid speculation that they were victims of smuggling or human trafficking rings. Coast Guard Administration (CGA) officials said the bodies, most of which had washed ashore, were found by coast guard personnel and local residents along the coastline from Keelung to Kaohsiung. Thirteen of the bodies are male and three are female, the CGA said, adding that items found on the bodies indicate that two of the men were Vietnamese, while three men
RSS