Taiwan is still interested in buying F-35 fighters from the US because the model matches the air force’s requirements, Minster of National Defense Yen Teh-fa (嚴德發) told a legislative committee yesterday.
The F-35B’s short takeoff and vertical-landing capabilities definitely meet the needs of the air force, Yen told lawmakers in his first question-and-answer session as minister during a meeting of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
However, the Ministry of National Defense has not made an official request to the US to purchase the aircraft and he could not say how many it wants to buy, he said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Yen, a former secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC), reiterated a plan the ministry first announced in late 2011.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of North American Affairs Director-General Remus Chen (陳立國) told a news briefing that the government has made clear its intention to seek weaponry from the US to meet its air defense needs.
“Hopefully, those needs can be fulfilled soon,” he said.
Asked to comment on Chen’s remarks, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) spokeswoman Sonia Urbom said in an e-mail that the US remains fully committed to fulfilling its responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), but cannot comment on pending or potential arms sales.
“In accordance with the TRA, we will continue to make available to Taiwan defense articles and services necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability,” she said. “We continue to review Taiwan’s defensive needs on an ongoing basis and will consult with Congress as required.”
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was quoted as saying in May last year that her administration had not dismissed the possibility of obtaining F-35 fighters.
“We don’t rule out any items that would be meaningful to our defense and our defense strategy, and the F-35 is one such item,” Tsai told Reuters in an interview.
SCENARIOS: A potential conflict with Beijing would not be similar to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China would target energy and food supplies, a researcher said China is likely to continue using economic and cyberoperations against Taiwan to force it to capitulate without resorting to a military attack, Fox News reported yesterday, citing the outcome of a tabletop exercise. Washington-based think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) earlier this month held a tabletop exercise in Taipei focusing on Beijing’s use of economic and cybercoercion against Taiwan. The FDD mentioned an “anaconda strategy,” in which Beijing would likely use cyberwarfare and disinformation campaigns followed by a blockade or other measures to strangulate Taiwan, rather than attempting an invasion, the report said. A large-scale cyberattack would be
HSINCHU CASES: Five people among 35 who were reported being sick were still in hospital after eating at a vendor in a market in Jhubei, the local health agency said Thirty-five people have sought medical treatment for acute symptoms after allegedly eating banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) from a vendor in Jhubei City (竹北), the Hsinchu County Public Health Bureau said yesterday. The bureau said that since Saturday, it has received several reports of suspected food poisoning from hospitals. The vendor has been ordered to temporarily suspend its business, it said, adding that tests were being conducted to determine whether the people had food poisoning, with results expected in about two weeks. A preliminary investigation showed that the people who sought treatment had recently eaten banh mi at a vendor at a retail market
GOOD MODEL: Speaking at his book launch, Law said that Taiwan is the most democratic Chinese-speaking country, which is why Hong Kongers relocated here China has suffocated Hong Kong’s civil society and its next target could be Taiwan, Nathan Law (羅冠聰), cofounder of the disbanded pro-democracy Hong Kong political party Demosisto, said in Taipei yesterday. Law made the remarks at a launch in Taipei for his book When the Wind Blows — the Struggles for Freedom of Hong Kong (時代推著我們前行:羅冠聰的香港備忘錄). Law has been living in the UK since he fled Hong Kong in 2020, and the book is about his fighting for the cause of freedom in the area. He was granted political asylum in 2021. “Fleeing is a long and distressing process, but it also
IMITATING OTHERS? Tsai Ing-wen’s office said the former president rents a commercial unit for her personal office and had never used election funds to purchase real estate Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday confirmed that he used about NT$43 million (US$1.35 million) from his presidential election subsidy to purchase an office unit near the Legislative Yuan in May. Ko made the remarks after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) earlier in the day told a news conference that she received a tip-off that the TPP chairman had purchased a 48.76 ping (161.2m2) office unit at Jinan Building (濟南大樓), a commercial building in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正). Lin said that Ko purchased the unit on May 10, paying about NT$43 million in cash,