Taiwan is unlikely to scrap its US-based training program for its F-16 pilots for the sake of cutting costs, the Air Force General Headquarters (AFGH) said yesterday.
The AFGH was responding to a foreign wire service report that quoted the British military journal Jane's Defense Weekly saying that Taiwan had informed the US Department of Defense that it will call off the F-16 pilot training program.
According to an article to be published on Wednesday, Taiwan will cancel the US-based F-16 pilot training program from October in a bid to cut costs. The program costs US$30 million a year.
Commenting on the report, an AFGH official said Taiwan is now negotiating a new pilot training contract with US authorities.
"Against this backdrop, we are unlikely to abruptly discontinue the existing training program. The so-called Oct. 1 deadline for canceling the training program is groundless," the official said.
According to AFGH sources, Taiwan first signed a pilot training contract with US authorities after the Pentagon agreed to sell it 150 F-16 fighters. The second contract is set to expire at the end of 2005.
Under the contract, Taiwan sends a squadron of air force pilots annually to the US Air Force's 56th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Base in Arizona to receive flight training.
The AFGH official said the latest pilots left for the US in August.
"As the existing contract will expire next year, we are negotiating a new one," the official said, adding that it's impossible that the government will phase out the US-based pilot training program.
In related news, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) opposes the government's plans to build its own submarines for defense, TSU Legislator Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) said yesterday.
Chen, a TSU party whip, said that the party supports increasing the weapons procurement budget but opposes Taiwan building domestically the submarines that the US has promised to sell it.
Chen said that the TSU is against the self-build plan on the grounds that it would be cheaper to buy the subs from abroad.
In addition, he argued, Taiwan would at most be granted permission to build the hardware aspects of the subs, as presumably neither the US nor any other country would provide Taiwan with the advanced technology needed.
US President George W. Bush made a huge arms sales offer to Taiwan in 2001, agreeing to sell the nation eight diesel-powered submarines, 12 anti-submarine airplanes, four Kidd-class destroyers and 388 Patriotic PAC-3 missiles.
The US has been watching whether a special budget for the deal, particularly the budget for the subs, will be passed by the legislature, which will meet beginning Friday.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS