On Thursday last week, the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported that Air Force Commander General Hsiung Hou-chi (熊厚基) took part in a videoconference on military affairs in the Indo-Pacific region, citing the Indian Air Force’s Facebook page. This is encouraging news.
Indian Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari and air force commanders in the region met online to discuss the challenges of distributed logistics and combat deployment while operating in austere locations.
Political and academic circles in India have been paying attention to the situation in the Taiwan Strait, and related issues are often covered in the Indian media. For example, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa’s supportive remarks about Taiwan were made in an Indian interview.
INDIA’s PROGRAMS
Taiwan and India have French-made Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets and see China as their main enemy, so the two nations have shared interests to discuss in exchanges.
Coincidentally, they are also developing next-generation air forces.
The Indian Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) program is developing a fifth-generation fighter jet for the country’s air force and navy. The AMCA is to be a twin-engine, all-weather and multi-functional stealth fighter jet.
When the program was launched, the aim was to have the fighter jet outperform the Mirage 2000 series. The Indian government allocated US$2 billion to the program for research and development, while private enterprises gave US$350 million in the initial stages.
In 2020, the AMCA was to undergo wind tunnel testing. India signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia to gain the technology for 3D thrust vectoring and active electronically scanned array antennas.
India is also working with UK-based Rolls-Royce to develop a new engine based on the Eurojet EJ200, a turbofan engine used in the Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighter.
WORKING TOGETHER
If Taiwan could collaborate with India on next-generation indigenous fighter jet programs, it would be easier to obtain mature, stable technology from the international spot market.
To block Chinese expansion in the South China Sea, India helped the Philippines to set up three battalions outfitted with BrahMos ground-launched cruise missiles, while providing the Philippines with low-interest loans.
The US agreed to sell Taiwan the basic version of the Harpoon missile, which has a range of 148km and a speed of Mach 0.85 (1049.58kph), but India offered the Philippines a supersonic version with a range of 300km and a speed of Mach 3. India seems to be more generous than the US.
IN WITH A CHANCE
People often say that no one dares to sell weapons to Taiwan due to Chinese pressure, but that excuse does not stand up to the principle of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Thanks to the government’s efforts over the past few years, Taiwan has found friendly countries in Europe, such as Lithuania and the Czech Republic.
It is heartening to see that Taiwan is now engaged in Indo-Pacific cooperation. Hopefully, it can enhance relations for deeper collaboration with India so that the two nations can fight back against the bully China together.
Chang Feng-lin is a university lecturer.
Translated by Eddy Chang
Why is Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not a “happy camper” these days regarding Taiwan? Taiwanese have not become more “CCP friendly” in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of spies and graft by the United Front Work Department, intimidation conducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Police/Coast Guard, and endless subversive political warfare measures, including cyber-attacks, economic coercion, and diplomatic isolation. The percentage of Taiwanese that prefer the status quo or prefer moving towards independence continues to rise — 76 percent as of December last year. According to National Chengchi University (NCCU) polling, the Taiwanese
It would be absurd to claim to see a silver lining behind every US President Donald Trump cloud. Those clouds are too many, too dark and too dangerous. All the same, viewed from a domestic political perspective, there is a clear emerging UK upside to Trump’s efforts at crashing the post-Cold War order. It might even get a boost from Thursday’s Washington visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In July last year, when Starmer became prime minister, the Labour Party was rigidly on the defensive about Europe. Brexit was seen as an electorally unstable issue for a party whose priority
US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought renewed scrutiny to the Taiwan-US semiconductor relationship with his claim that Taiwan “stole” the US chip business and threats of 100 percent tariffs on foreign-made processors. For Taiwanese and industry leaders, understanding those developments in their full context is crucial while maintaining a clear vision of Taiwan’s role in the global technology ecosystem. The assertion that Taiwan “stole” the US’ semiconductor industry fundamentally misunderstands the evolution of global technology manufacturing. Over the past four decades, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), has grown through legitimate means
Today is Feb. 28, a day that Taiwan associates with two tragic historical memories. The 228 Incident, which started on Feb. 28, 1947, began from protests sparked by a cigarette seizure that took place the day before in front of the Tianma Tea House in Taipei’s Datong District (大同). It turned into a mass movement that spread across Taiwan. Local gentry asked then-governor general Chen Yi (陳儀) to intervene, but he received contradictory orders. In early March, after Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) dispatched troops to Keelung, a nationwide massacre took place and lasted until May 16, during which many important intellectuals
RSS