Taiwan is on track to receive delivery of new armored fighting vehicles, jet trainers and improved barracks next year, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said.
Tsai made the comments in a directive issued following a presidential Cabinet briefing held at her office in Taipei on Tuesday, the Presidential Office said in a statement issued later that day.
The projected defense budget inclusive of funds and special reserves estimated at NT$606.8 billion (US$19.08 billion) — about 2.5 percent of GDP — would demonstrate the nation’s resolve to defend itself, Tsai was cited as saying.
Photo: AFP
The air force has so far received 17 Aerospace Industrial Development Corp T-5 Brave Eagle advanced jet trainers out of a total of 66 airframes ordered, meaning 25 percent have been delivered, she said, adding that eight more would be built before the end of this year.
Aerospace Industrial Development Corp plans to make 18 T-5 jets next year and the same number the year after that, and a final trio in 2026, a published schedule showed.
The plan to modernize the air force’s fleet of F-16A/Bs to F-16Vs would be completed by the end of the month, she said.
The first batch of the army’s M1A2T Abrams battle tanks would roll off the assembly line in the US by the end of the year and 683 eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles are to be delivered by the end of next year, Tsai said.
The army believes the Abrams would be a boon to combat capabilities as the US-made tanks are considered to be markedly superior to China’s T-99s, she said.
In addition, the indigenous defense and submarine program would complete the building of 91 vessels including ships and submarines this year, she added.
Ninety out of the military’s 103 barrack construction projects are scheduled to be completed next year, which would improve the standard of living for 60,000 service members, Tsai said, adding that the government plans to build a total of 222 structures in 103 projects.
Taiwan’s military capabilities must be strengthened to protect national security and interests, and inspire confidence in Taiwan’s friends, Tsai said.
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
Drinking a lot of water or milk would not help a person who has ingested terbufos, a toxic chemical that has been identified as the likely cause of three deaths, a health expert said yesterday. An 83-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) and two others died this week after eating millet dumplings with snails that Tseng had made. Tseng died on Tuesday and others ate the leftovers when they went to her home to mourn her death that evening. Twelve people became ill after eating the dumplings following Tseng’s death. Their symptoms included vomiting and convulsions. Six were hospitalized, with two of them
DIVA-READY: The city’s deadline for the repairs is one day before pop star Jody Chiang is to perform at the Taipei Dome for the city’s Double Ten National Day celebrations The Taipei City Government has asked Farglory Group (遠雄集團) to repair serious water leaks in the Taipei Dome before Friday next week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday, following complaints that many areas at the stadium were leaking during two baseball games over the weekend. The dome on Saturday and Sunday hosted two games in tribute to CTBC Brothers’ star Chou Szu-chi (周思齊) ahead of his retirement from the CPBL. The games each attracted about 40,000 people, filling the stadium to capacity. However, amid heavy rain, many people reported water leaking on some seats, at the entrance and exit areas, and the
BIG collection: The herbarium holds more than 560,000 specimens, from the Japanese colonial period to the present, including the Wulai azalea, which is now extinct in the wild The largest collection of plant specimens in Taiwan, the Taipei Botanical Garden’s herbarium, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an exhibition that opened on Friday. The herbarium provides critical historical documents for botanists and is the first of its kind in Taiwan, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute director Tseng Yen-hsueh (曾彥學) said. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, which opened during 1924. At the time, it stored 30,000 plant specimens from almost 6,000 species, including Taiwanese plant samples collected by Tomitaro Makino, the “father of Japanese botany,” Tseng said. The herbarium collection has grown in the century since its