Twenty-five defense contractors from the US arrived in Taiwan and are scheduled to attend the Taiwan-US Defense Industry Forum at the Taipei International Convention Center today.
The Taipei forum is to feature addresses by US-Taiwan Business Council president Rupert Hammond-Chambers, defense experts and representatives of defense companies, the organizers said.
The group yesterday visited the Institute for National Defense and Security Research to discuss the security threats that Taiwan faces, the security issues in the Indo-Pacific region and what effects Russia’s war in Ukraine would have on Taiwan.
Photo courtesy of a reader via CNA
The reshuffle of the technology industry supply chain in the wake of the US-China trade dispute has seen a conscious effort to purge made-in-China products and components in the information, communications and technology sector, and the defense industry, said a national security official, commenting on condition of anonymity.
Taiwan’s development of an autonomous defense sector and the aerospace industry has made it a reliable supplier on the international stage, the source said.
However, deepening US-Taiwan ties in the defense sector is anathema to Beijing, they said.
Beijing has contacted certain media groups in Taiwan that are pro-China, labeling the US defense contractors as “sharks circling the waters,” the source said.
The source added that national security agencies would monitor security at the forum today as the government has credible intelligence that some pro-China groups might stage a protest outside the center.
Separately yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) spokesman Alfred Lin (林家興) said the KMT welcomed the delegation’s visit to Taiwan and urged the Ministry of National Defense to negotiate with the US on the details and expedite the process to obtain the necessary military equipment to help defend Taiwan.
Lin’s comments refer to the 66 F-16V jets, approved for sale to Taiwan under former US president Donald Trump, which have yet to be delivered, despite the original delivery date set for early this year.
Lin also said that Harpoon anti-surface missile and other shore-based missiles systems that were originally pledged to be delivered within five years are being delayed due to the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, urging the government to take more care when discussing arms purchases with international partners.
Any arms purchase should go toward the effective protection of Taiwan, while ensuring that taxpayers’ money is well spent, Lin said.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang and CNA
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS