Taiwan is grateful to the US for agreeing to sell four Perry-class guided missile frigates, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday, adding that they would enhance the nation’s defense capabilities and contribute to peace and stability in the region.
China reacted by lodging a formal complaint with the US and calling for an end to arms sales to Taiwan.
US President Barack Obama on Thursday signed into law a bill that authorizes the sale of up to four Perry-class frigates to Taiwan. The US Senate and House of Representatives had both passed the bill earlier this month.
Photo: EPA
The sale of the frigates demonstrates the Obama administration and US Congress’ commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act and support for Taiwan’s security, while also attesting to the mutual friendship and strengthening of bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington, ministry spokesperson Major General David Lo (羅紹和) said.
The government has budgeted about NT$5.5 billion (US$174.8 million) to purchase two Perry-class frigates, Lo said, adding: “The navy will review its needs and decide whether to buy more frigates in the future.”
“The purchase program will follow the military’s arms procurement regulations. We shall be in close contact with our US counterparts to obtain the frigates’ shipboard architecture and weapons systems that are suited to our combat needs,” Lo said.
He added that the sale “will boost our military’s confidence and capability to defend the nation, and help maintain peace and stability in the region.”
The navy will send a team to the US next year in preparation for taking delivery of the frigates, which are expected to arrive in 2016 at the earliest.
The measure approved by the US government will allow the sale of four Perry-class frigates — the USS Gary, USS Carr, USS Taylor and USS Elrod — to Taiwan.
Ministry officials said they would replace the nation’s aging fleet of Knox-class vessels, which have been in service for about 50 years.
The 4,165-tonne Perry-class frigates are designed for marine-patrol warfare, with secondary anti-
aircraft and anti-ship capability.
US Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, said the arms sales would bolster Taiwan’s maritime security and its critical relationship with the US, as provided for in the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979.
“Few other pieces of foreign policy legislation have been as consequential as this act. With steadfast support from the United States Congress, Taiwan has become a thriving modern society that strongly respects human rights, the rule of law and free markets,” Royce said.
The US measure drew an angry reaction from Beijing, with Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Qing Gang (秦剛) saying: “China is strongly dissatisfied” with the bill.
“We are firmly opposed to arms sales to Taiwan by the US,” he added, reiterating Beijing’s longstanding position.
“We have launched solemn representations with the US side,” he said, using formal language for a diplomatic protest, adding that Taiwan “remains the most sensitive issue in China-US relations.”
He also called on the US to cut official and military exchanges with Taiwan.
Additional reporting by AFP
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,
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 —