The Democratic Action Alliance yesterday urged the public to join a so-called peace rally on Saturday to protest the Legislative Yuan's NT$610.8 billion (US$18.25 billion)proposed bill to buy weaponry from the US. The civil group's rally will begin at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall at 2pm and continue in a march along Ketagalan Avenue.
"Arms procurement cannot ensure the safety of Taiwan," National Taiwan University (NTU) psychology professor Huang Kuang-kuo (
The special arms procurement budget of NT$610.8 billion, approved by the Cabinet in early June, will buy eight diesel-electric submarines, six PAC-3 anti-missile systems and 12 P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft from the US.
The price tag makes this the biggest arms purchase from the US in a decade, and has stirred complaints from lawmakers and others. The Alliance argued that the arms package is unfit for strategic use in the Taiwan Strait, and is instead tailored to the interests of the US and intended as political gamesmanship.
"The cross-strait issue is a political dilemma in which military clout hardly offers a way out," said Chang Ya-chung (
The Alliance said that the arms package violates the spirit of democracy.
"The people of Taiwan already said no to a military budget in the March 20 referendum devised by the ruling party," said Chu Hui-liang (
"If there is really a necessity for war, I want to know who we are fighting for and what we are fighting for," demanded Wang Fang-ping (
Echoing Wang's skepticism, novelist Chu Ten-hsin (
The Alliance contended that the arms deal will only inflame nationalism and squeeze out spending for social welfare. Joyce Feng (
Feng said that if the government can lavish NT$610.8 billion on weaponry, there is no reason why they cannot afford the annual pension budget. According to Feng, the pension budget has been cut for 11 straight years.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
A mountain blaze that broke out yesterday morning in Yangmingshan National Park was put out after five hours, following multi agency efforts involving dozens of fire trucks and helicopter water drops. The fire might have been sparked by an air quality sensor operated by the National Center for High-Performance Computing, one of the national-level laboratories under the National Applied Research Laboratories, Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters said. The Taipei City Fire Department said the fire, which broke out at about 11am yesterday near the mountainous Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) Recreation Area was extinguished at 4:32pm. It had initially dispatched 72 personnel in four command vehicles, 16
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