People’s Liberation Army (PLA) incursions into Taiwan’s airspace have led to a surge in the operational costs of the Republic of China Air Force, the Ministry of National Defense said.
The air force’s equipment and facility costs are projected to reach a record NT$29.2 billion (US$1.05 billion) next fiscal year, the ministry said in a budget report dated Tuesday.
They include NT$17.2 billion for maintenance and NT$11.9 billion for purchasing new materiel, up 56 percent from fiscal 2016, the ministry said.
These costs conform to the trend of rising year-on-year maintenance costs, which stem from missions to intercept PLA aircraft, it said.
The PLA began sending jets and bombers into the country’s airspace in concurrence with President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) re-election in 2016, the ministry said.
In 2018, it shifted its focus from aerial circumnavigation of Taiwan’s airspace to incursions of the southwestern air defense identification zone (ADIZ), it said.
In November last year, air force Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Huang Chih-wei (黃志偉) told a legislative hearing that the air force must plan for costs associated with aircraft maintenance and spare parts acquisition two years ahead. The budget was calculated in light of the military situation, for equipment upgrading and facility construction, he said at the time.
The largest number of Chinese warplanes entering Taiwan’s ADIZ since the ministry started publishing such movements on Sept. 17 last year was 28 on June 15 this year, two days after the G7 highlighted the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Additional reporting by CNA
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS