The Ministry of National Defense is suing the French government for alleged kickbacks paid to French officials for the purchase of Dassault Mirage 2000 fighters between 1992 and 1997, an official said.
The ministry has acquired the services of an elite French legal firm for one year for the suit, costing NT$177 million (US$5.86 million), a senior official who has knowledge of the matter said.
The France-based legal firm is to represent Taiwan until July 23 next year, but the ministry is to continue the case if the court of arbitration does not reach a verdict by July next year, said the official who requested anonymity.
Photo: Yu Tai-lang, Taipei Times
The ministry believes the legal fees are justified, as the court ruled in a former case that France is to repay US$875 million for bribes paid to its officials for selling six Lafayette-class frigates, the official said.
The French-made frigates cost Taiwan NT$78 billion, less than half the NT$160 billion paid for 60 Mirage 2000 jets, the official said.
“Although the two cases are not comparable, if it is proven that there were kickbacks paid for the fighters, we will likely demand repayments that are greater than the compensation we are to receive for the Lafayette-class frigates,” the official said.
Following the legal victory in the Lafayette case, the ministry in 2012 sued for compensation over bribes that were allegedly paid for Mirage 2000 fighters, the official said.
It took four years for the case to clear preliminary legal procedures, which is now to be heard at the court of arbitration, the official added.
The air force is to send a legal team of 12 people to France to be involved in the proceedings, the official said.
The French government was upset by the case brought by the Mirage 2000 scandal, which has affected its commitment to provide technical support for the fighters, another anonymous source said.
The dispute had a negative effect on the fighters’ maintenance, spare parts supply and the life-extension program for their missiles, the source said.
However, the French government has continued hosting training for Taiwanese pilots, a program that began in November last year and is to continue until October next year, in addition to sending instructors to Taiwan for advanced tactical training, the source said.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer