President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said that the current level of military cooperation between Taiwan and the US is the “best in history.”
Speaking during a meeting with the presidents and vice presidents of the five branches of government, Ma said that the US government announced a US$1.83 billion arms sale package to Taiwan, the fourth major weapons sale since he took office in 2008.
Ma said regardless of the results of the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections, the government will operate as normal.
“There will be no caretaker government or lame-duck government. The government will do whatever is required of it according to the law,” Ma said.
Ma said that his meeting last month with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Singapore was helpful in improving relations.
“It built a bridge of peace across the Taiwan Strait and established a new model that allows leaders of both sides to hold talks with each other on an equal footing and with dignity,” he said.
Ma added that Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) on Saturday led a group of government officials to Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) the largest of the disputed Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) which are controlled by Taiwan.
Chen said the island, which spans 49 hectares, has fresh water and land for planting vegetables and raising livestock.
In addition to solar power facilities, there is a 10-bed hospital with doctors and nursing staff on the island, he said.
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Residents have called on the Taipei City Government to reconsider its plan to demolish a four-decades-old pedestrian overpass near Daan Forest Park. The 42-year-old concrete and steel structure that serves as an elevated walkway over the intersection of Heping and Xinsheng roads is to be closed on Tuesday in preparation for demolition slated for completion by the end of the month. However, in recent days some local residents have been protesting the planned destruction of the intersection overpass that is rendered more poetically as “sky bridge” in Chinese. “This bridge carries the community’s collective memory,” said a man surnamed Chuang
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei