While attending a committee meeting at the Legislative Yuan on Sept. 30, Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) reported that since the beginning of the year, aircraft deployed by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force have entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone 217 times.
During the same period, the air force conducted 2,972 sorties to monitor and intercept Chinese warplanes, which cost NT$25.5 billion (US$880.52 million). Yen confirmed that additional funds must be allocated to the air force’s budget for the next fiscal year to compensate for the extra flying time.
Even as the nation’s finances are precarious due to economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost of additional interception sorties is likely to soar to NT$30 billion. Also, front-line military personnel are becoming fatigued at a greater rate, creating a never-ending logistical nightmare.
Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil, who last month headed a delegation to Taiwan, said before leaving the nation that he hoped for more exchanges between Taiwan and the Czech Republic.
Maintaining considerable cooperation on economics and trade would enable the two nations to continue to deepen their relations. A good place to start would be the Czech Republic’s aeronautical supply chain.
The Czech Republic is a member of the European Aerospace Cluster Partnership and Czech plane maker Aero Vodochody produces the Aero L-39 Albatros jet trainer. About 2,800 L-39s have thus far been deployed by more than 30 air forces around the world.
The company also produces an updated design, the Aero L-159 ALCA, a light attack aircraft and advanced jet trainer. The L-159 has the same Honeywell/ITEC F124 turbofan engine as Taiwan’s Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF), except that the L-159 has a single engine. However, this reduces its overall cost, so that it is an absolute bargain compared with the IDF.
Introduced in 2000, the L-159 has been deployed by the Czech Air Force and purchased by Spain and Iraq. Venezuela and Bolivia had placed orders, but the US objected and the sales were aborted.
Taiwan has over several decades been developing the nation’s aeronautical industry, but local firms only perform subcontract work for large European and US companies. Cooperation with Czech aviation companies would be a winning strategy for both sides.
Aerospace Industrial Development Corp has begun testing its T-5 Brave Eagle advanced jet trainer. Relatively few of the T-5s would replace the air force’s Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II fleet of trainer aircraft, so it would not conflict with Czech designs.
As the T-5 is in research and development, with a while before mass production, a quicker option would be to bring in a mature, existing model. Doing so would be a “win-win” for foreign diplomacy and national defense.
The Czech government in 2015 approved the sale of 15 L-159 fighters to Iraq for US$30 million, or US$2 million per airplane. Rather than use the F-16 or Mirage 2000, which are US$40 million to US$50 million per plane, it would cost less to buy training and attack jet fighters that are less than one-10th of the cost and deploy those to intercept Chinese warplanes that approach Taiwanese airspace.
Affordable airplanes — with savings going to staff and operational costs — is a good way to reduce overall government spending and enhance diplomatic ties.
Chang Feng-lin is a university lecturer.
Translated by Edward Jones and Perry Svensson
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has its chairperson election tomorrow. Although the party has long positioned itself as “China friendly,” the election is overshadowed by “an overwhelming wave of Chinese intervention.” The six candidates vying for the chair are former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), former lawmaker Cheng Li-wen (鄭麗文), Legislator Luo Chih-chiang (羅智強), Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中), former National Assembly representative Tsai Chih-hong (蔡志弘) and former Changhua County comissioner Zhuo Bo-yuan (卓伯源). While Cheng and Hau are front-runners in different surveys, Hau has complained of an online defamation campaign against him coming from accounts with foreign IP addresses,
Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) on Saturday won the party’s chairperson election with 65,122 votes, or 50.15 percent of the votes, becoming the second woman in the seat and the first to have switched allegiance from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to the KMT. Cheng, running for the top KMT position for the first time, had been termed a “dark horse,” while the biggest contender was former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), considered by many to represent the party’s establishment elite. Hau also has substantial experience in government and in the KMT. Cheng joined the Wild Lily Student
When Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced the implementation of a new “quiet carriage” policy across all train cars on Sept. 22, I — a classroom teacher who frequently takes the high-speed rail — was filled with anticipation. The days of passengers videoconferencing as if there were no one else on the train, playing videos at full volume or speaking loudly without regard for others finally seemed numbered. However, this battle for silence was lost after less than one month. Faced with emotional guilt from infants and anxious parents, THSRC caved and retreated. However, official high-speed rail data have long
Taipei stands as one of the safest capital cities the world. Taiwan has exceptionally low crime rates — lower than many European nations — and is one of Asia’s leading democracies, respected for its rule of law and commitment to human rights. It is among the few Asian countries to have given legal effect to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant of Social Economic and Cultural Rights. Yet Taiwan continues to uphold the death penalty. This year, the government has taken a number of regressive steps: Executions have resumed, proposals for harsher prison sentences
RSS