Criticizing a number of crippled satellite projects conducted by the National Science Council (NSC), legislators yesterday called for the exchange of space technology with China in a bid to promote Taiwan's space industry.
At a question and answer meeting held by the Science and Technology Committee (科技及資訊委員會) yesterday, lawmakers voiced disappointment with recent setbacks in three ongoing satellite projects.
Most of the concerns expressed were over technical problems and Chinese interference with the projects, centering around the failure of foreign contractors to obtain the necessary government export licenses to follow through with their commitments.
Legislators urged the NSC to consider cooperating with China.
"This has nothing to do with politics. China has well-developed space technology, and we can definitely benefit from it," said KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (
Ting and DPP legislator Chen Zau-nan yesterday (
Stressing security concerns over the proposal, NSC Chairman Weng Cheng-i (
Since the early 1990s -- when Taiwan initiated a 15-year-long state-funded project, costing NT$19.7 billion, to develop space technology -- China has interfered with Taiwan's efforts.
After ROCSAT-1 (
A German firm had been contracted to build the main part of ROCSAT-2, but it had failed to get a high-tech export license from its government, which was under pressure from China. A French company, Matra Marconi Space (MMS), then stepped into the breach.
NSC officials admitted yesterday that China had warned France last week about its cooperation on ROCSAT-2 between the NSC and MMS, to which France had granted a high-tech export license.
It was reported on June 22 that Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao (
KMT legislator Huang Hsien-chou (
"Might France's bid for involvement in a high-speed railway project in China affect Taiwan's satellite contract with France?" asked Huang.
NSC officials said that they had conducted a risk assessment.
"We were told by our contractor that the French government rarely withdraws licenses that have been issued," said Wang Hung-chih (
NSC officials yesterday sought to play down the significance of the legislators' ideas of space cooperation, telling reporters privately that Chinese space technology did not quite meet Taiwan's needs.
A launch date for the satellite has been given as the middle of 2003. However, the deadline for receipt of bids to build the payload system, originally scheduled for January, has been deferred to the end of June because there were no bids received by the deadline.
The bid was expected to attract major aerospace firms in the US and Russia. NSC officials said yesterday that a Russian firm had dropped out after failing to obtain the required high-tech export permit from the Russian government.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
NEGOTIATIONS: Taiwan has good relations with Washington and the outlook for the negotiations looks promising, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo said Taiwan’s GDP growth this year is expected to decrease by 0.43 to 1.61 percentage points due to the effects of US tariffs, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei yesterday, citing a preliminary estimate by a private research institution. Taiwan’s economy would be significantly affected by the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs slapped by the US, which took effect yesterday, Liu said, adding that GDP growth could fall below 3 percent and potentially even dip below 2 percent to 1.53 percent this year. The council has commissioned another institution
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS