A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator yesterday demanded an apology from a top US defense official, saying he had misspelled the name of Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (
US Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Asia and the Pacific Richard Lawless mixed up the minister's name in the letter, KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (
The letter, signed by Lawless, was addressed to Lee on June 27 this year, and was in response to the Taiwanese Navy's request that the US assess the feasibility of a two-phase approach of selling diesel submarines to Taiwan.
According to the letter provided by Lin, the minister's salutation was correct. But the latter part of the letter reads: "As you are aware, on 20 May 2004 and 7 July 2004, I wrote to former Defense Minister Li Chieh on this issue."
The reference to "former Defense Minister Li Chieh" appears to be a mistaken reference to Lee Jye. Lee took up the post of Minister of National Defense on May 21, 2004. His predecessor was Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明).
Lin refused to reveal how he had gotten hold of the letter but said it was an authentic copy.
"It is unbelievable that there were such errors in government correspondence. It could be an unwitting mistake, but it could also be that the US did it deliberately, to humiliate Minister Lee and vent its anger over the long-delayed arms deal," Lin said.
The legislator said the US should apologize for the error and Lee should send a letter to Lawless demanding an apology, to defend his dignity and that of the nation.
Lin said that he opposed the US' offer of a two-phase approach to sell Taiwan diesel submarines.
"According to the letter, the US made no concessions on the deal," he said.
Lin said that the design fee for the diesel submarines would be US$360 million (NT$10.94 million), as mentioned in the letter.
The price was far above quotations on the international market, Lin said.
"The high design fee will push the price of each diesel submarine up to US$1.2 billion. Is it possible that we can accept such a high figure?" he said.
Lin said he also opposed a condition mentioned in the letter that Taiwan would not be allowed to maintain the diesel submarines in accordance with the design, without submitting to the US' export control regulations.
"Now that we need [to spend] so much money to get the design graphics, we should retain the intellectual property rights," Lin said.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS