The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday demanded that the government explain whether it had urged the US to freeze arms sales to the country.
“We know from various sources in the US that the reason behind the suspension of arms sales to Taiwan was the KMT government,” DPP Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said.
Cheng said that the government should explain itself to the public if it had decided to give up the former DPP administration’s arms procurement policy.
The alleged KMT request has led to speculation that it was in connection with the resumption of cross-strait talks in Beijing this week, said Lin Chen-wei (林成蔚), director of the DPP’s Department of International Affairs.
National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起) is rumored to have made a secret trip to Hong Kong to meet Chinese government officials and arrange the cross-strait talks.
“Su Chi should also give an account of whether he used making the request to the US as a condition to get China to agree to resume the talks during his trip to Hong Kong,” Lin said.
The DPP officials, however, refused to elaborate on what they knew about the communication between the government and the US on the postponement.
The allegations against the government came in the wake of a report in the latest edition of Defense News that the US has frozen arms sales to Taiwan until after the Beijing Olympics or until US President George W. Bush leaves office.
Other media outlets have reported that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley had frozen the deals.
The paper said that Taiwan had privately urged Bush not to send Congress the notifications for the approval of weapons sales to Taiwan in the coming weeks as it was negotiating with China on launching regular direct flights and expanding tourism.
Defense News said the sales would amount to some US$12 billion for the acquisition of 30 Apache Longbow attack helicopters, 60 Black Hawk helicopters, eight diesel-electric submarines, four PAC-3 air defense missile batteries and 66 F-16 fighter aircraft.
Executive Yuan Spokeswoman Vanessa Shih (史亞平) denied the allegations and said the government had not heard from the US that it was suspending arms sales.
“The Ministry of National Defense has good communications with the US and we hope the US approves the sales as soon as possible,” Shih said.
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
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
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
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,
RSS