Washington is evaluating a transfer of weapons systems requested by Taiwan, according to a copy of a report by the Ministry of National Defense (MND) that is to be submitted to lawmakers tomorrow.
Asked whether the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile would be among the weapons systems, the ministry refused to comment, but said that it would not rule out announcing the specifics later this year.
The ministry’s domestically sourced high-priority military investments include submarines, next-generation light frigates, rescue ships, advanced trainer jets and infantry fighting vehicles, the report said.
Photo: screen grab from the Web site of the US Air Force
Planned deals include F-16A and F-16B jet performance upgrades, navigation and targeting pods, precision-guided munitions, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (known as HIMARS), Harpoon coastal defense missile systems and MQ-9B drones, it said.
Last year, the ministry told Chinese-language media that it expressed interest in US-made AGM-158 missiles, which can be launched from jets and have a range of 370km.
The US probably had concerns that the transfer of long-range weapons could provoke China, Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research analyst at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper).
However, China’s increasingly mature aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships pose a growing security threat, helping Taipei make the case for obtaining the missiles, he said.
Aegis Combat System-equipped warships, precision-guided munitions and stealth technologies might become necessary for Taiwan’s defense, and the ministry should consider requesting them, he said.
Meanwhile, the navy is on track to procure nine more Tuo Chiang-class corvettes, so that it would have 12 warships of that class by 2026, the report said.
The shipbuilding project is funded via the Sea and Air Combat Power Improvement Special Budget of NT$236.9 billion (US$7.46 billion), it said, adding that the remaining 10 ships on the order would cost more than NT$69.2 billion.
The class’ lead ship, the ROCS Tuo Chiang, has been in service since 2014, while the second ship, the ROCS Fu Chiang, was christened on Sept. 21 following significant design changes that increased the class’ tonnage and capabilities.
Tuo Chiang-class corvettes built after the improvements have a displacement of 685 tonnes, and can carry 16 Hai Chien II air defense missiles, eight Hisung Feng II and four Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missiles. Each corvette requires an estimated 17 months to build.
The contract to construct the ships was awarded to Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船).
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so
RSS