President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday reiterated his call on the US to sell F-16C/D aircraft to Taiwan during a meeting with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt and emphasized the importance of maintaining a balance of military strength across the Taiwan Strait.
The procurement of weapons conforms to the Taiwan Relations Act, Ma said, adding that the fighter aircraft would replace an aging fleet and would only be used for defensive purposes.
“The defense budget failed to reach 3 percent of GDP, but that budget is still more than the budget for last year ... The government will continue efforts to make sure the budget for national defense meets demands,” Ma said at the Presidential Office.
Photo: CNA
According to official figures, the defense budget last year was NT$297.4 billion (US$9.3 billion), compared with NT$297.2 billion this year. However, when asked for clarification, the Presidential Office told the Taipei Times that once subsidies for veterans’ housing and other expenditures not directly related to defense were factored in, the total budget for this year was NT$374.8 billion.
Burghardt, who arrived in Taipei on Sunday for a five-day visit, remained noncommittal on the 66 F-16C/Ds requested by Taipei and said he “didn’t come this time with any kind of special message from Washington.”
In his meeting with Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday, Burghardt said that arms sales to Taiwan would continue, while describing the fighter aircraft sale as “an old subject.”
Ma, who said Washington has remained unwilling to accept a letter of request for the F-16C/Ds, thanked the US for releasing two arms procurement packages in 2008 and last year — both leftovers from former US president George W. Bush’s administration — to help Taiwan maintain its necessary defense capabilities.
Ma also thanked the US for assisting in Taiwan’s plan to join the International Civil Aviation Organization, saying air travel was becoming increasingly important now that the number of weekly cross-strait flights has increased from 370 to 558.
He also pointed to what he referred to as achievements in improving cross-strait relations and said the two sides would address issues such as investment protection, a dispute-resolution mechanism and nuclear security in cross-strait negotiations later this year.
Commenting on January’s presidential and legislative elections, Burghardt said the AIT congratulated Taiwan for its success in developing a real democracy and said that the US remained neutral on Taiwan’s elections.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
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