A Ministry of National Defense official yesterday said that completing the long-stalled purchase of a US arms package from the ministry's normal annual budget, instead of a special budget, was unlikely because of the government's constrained finances.
The official, who requested anonymity, was responding to a report in a Chinese-language newspaper, which said that US authorities have suggested that Taiwan can pay for the weapons out of the ministry's annual budget.
"The policy for the special arms budget has never changed. The ministry has not yet received any information from the US suggesting that Taiwan organize the arms bill into its annual budget," the official told the Central News Agency yesterday.
The NT$480 billion (US$15 billion) US arms-procurement budget would pay for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile batteries, 12 P-3C maritime patrol aircraft and eight diesel-powered submarines.
The newspaper reported that because the special arms budget has been blocked by pan-blue legislators, US government and think tank officials suggested to the ministry's Chief of the General Staff General Lee Tien-yu (
The US officials also urged that Taiwan raise its annual defense budget to between 3 percent to 3.5 percent of GDP.
In response, the ministry official agreed that the defense budget had been too low in recent years, accounting for only 2.4 percent of GDP this year. As a result, it would be difficult to pay for the NT$480 billion arms bill from the ministry's annual budget without a significant -- and unlikely -- budget increase.
If the government boosts the defense budget to 3 percent of GDP, it would be able to spend an additional NT$70 billion per year.
According to the newspaper report, a military official said if the government had these additional funds, it could probably purchase the PAC-3 missile batteries and 12 P-3C maritime patrol aircraft from the regular budget, with the costs spread over several years. However, if the price tag for the subs were added in, the total cost would be too high for the annual budget, the official said.
Vice Minister of the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) Chen Ching-tsai (陳慶財) has said that the government will not be able to give the ministry a budget of 3 percent of GDP for the next five years, due to its constrained financial situation.
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are
LOOKING FOR WHEELS: The military is seeking 8x8 single-chassis vehicles to test the new missile and potentially replace the nation’s existing launch vehicles, the source said Taiwan is developing a hypersonic missile based on the Ching Tien (擎天) supersonic cruise missile, and a Czech-made truck has been tentatively selected as its launch vehicle, a source said yesterday. The Ching Tien, formerly known as Yun Feng (雲峰, “Cloud Peak”), is a domestically developed missile with a range of 1,200km to 2,000km being deployed in casemate-type positions as of last month, an official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The hypersonic missile to be derived from the Ching Tien would feature improved range and a mobile launch platform, while the latter would most likely be a 12x12 single chassis
UP AND DOWN: The route would include a 16.4km underground section from Zuoying to Fongshan and a 9.5km elevated part from Fongshan to Pingtung Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday confirmed a project to extend the high-speed rail (HSR) to Pingtung County through Kaohsiung. Cho made the announcement at a ceremony commemorating the completion of a dome at Kaohsiung Main Station. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications approved the HSR expansion in 2019 using a route that branches off a line from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung’s Zuoying District (左營). The project was ultimately delayed due to a lack of support for the route. The Zuoying route would have trains stop at the Zuoying Station and return to a junction before traveling southward to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝).
Parts of the nation, including in the south, could experience temperatures as low as 7°C early tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. A strong continental cold air mass coupled with the effect of radiative cooling would bring cold weather to several northern cities and counties, and could even affect areas as far south as Tainan early tomorrow, the CWA said. Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties would experience temperatures below 10°C until this evening, according to cold surge advisories issued by the weather agency. The weather across the nation is forecast to remain
RSS