Sweeping aside growing criticism from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) over the establishment of arms company Taiwan Goal, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Although the government had promised to fund the company's operations, the required budget requests had not been approved by the Legislative Yuan, he said.
"It is a completely private company. How can I disband a private company? Is it possible that one day I will be asked to disband Wang Yung-ching's (王永慶) Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團) or Morris Chang's (張忠謀) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電)?" Chang said during his administrative report to the legislature.
The KMT caucus had urged the premier to disband Taiwan Goal immediately, citing concerns that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) may profit from it.
The premier last week confirmed the existence of the company for the first time, adding that Wu Nai-jen (
Confirmation that 45 percent of the company's initial capital would come from the Ministry of National Defense prompted opposition speculation that the government was seeking to profit from Taiwan Goal and that it would be immune from legislative oversight.
The premier said yesterday that the establishment of a private arms company would enable the nation's defense industry to more easily advance its technological capabilities
The National Defense Act (國防法) and the Organic Statute of the Armaments Bureau (軍備局組織條例) both provide for government cooperation with the private sector in the defense industry, he said.
Meanwhile, Vice Minister of National Defense Lin Yu-pao (林於豹) said the timing of Taiwan Goal's establishment was "appropriate."
When approached by reporters after a KMT caucus media conference, Lin said it was appropriate to establish the company now because the nation has "so much arms procurement" to deal with.
Lin's comments were in sharp contrast to those of Armaments Bureau Director-General Wu Wei-rong (
Wu Wei-rong had said that it was inappropriate for the ministry to fund 45 percent of Taiwan Goal's initial capital and that establishing the company prior to the presidential election had raised public concerns.
Lin said yesterday that investing in a company like Taiwan Goal was a good policy.
He declined to comment on Wu Wei-rong's remark.
"Why can't everyone treat the policy as a major national policy?" he said.
Lin said that national defense budget requests are always subject to the supervision of the legislature, but some of the supervision is done in advance while some is done afterwards.
He said the ministry will not begin funding Taiwan Goal until a cross-departmental evaluation of the project has been completed.
At a separate setting, new KMT caucus whip Alex Fai (
In related developments, the premier denounced KMT Legislator Kung Wen-chi (
Kung is a KMT legislator from the Atayal tribe who has also been pushing for Aboriginal autonomy.
During the state affairs forum earlier yesterday, Kung had lashed out at the DPP, urging the premier to model himself on Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and offer an apology to the nation's Aborigines for "not treating the Aborigines as human beings."
On Feb. 13, Rudd publicly apologized to Australian Aborigines on behalf of his government for their past suffering.
"Irresponsible comments like these reveal the KMT's mindset as a bullying monopoly" in the legislature, Chang Chun-hsiung said in his administrative report later yesterday.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS