If the national defense budget for the submarine construction project is cut next year, the earliest the budget for the Hai Kun (海鯤) submarine could be allocated is 2026, with its implementation delayed until 2027, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said today.
The Legislative Yuan’s Foreign and National Defense Committee is reviewing next year’s national defense budget today and tomorrow, including the submarine construction project under the Indigenous Defense Submarine Program.
This program has a total proposed cost exceeding NT$284 billion (US$7.62 billion), with NT$1.9 billion to be allocated next year.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
However, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Ma Wen-chun (馬文君), Huang Jen (黃仁) and Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) have proposed to cut the submarine budget.
The Ministry of National Defense has been communicating with the legislators that the budget would not be utilized until the prototype submarine passes its sea trials, Koo said.
As the sea trials are not expected to be completed until September next year, Koo said he hopes this would encourage legislators to pass the budget now.
If the budget does not pass, not only would the timeline be delayed, but subcontractors would question Taiwan’s commitment to constructing the submarine, Koo said.
The ministry expects to engage with subcontractors and prepare relevant materials next year, he said.
Any delay would significantly impact the Indigenous Defense Submarine Program and efforts to enhance Taiwan’s defense capabilities, he added.
Reporters also inquired about comments from US academics suggesting that the ministry is not transparent enough in reporting China’s military activities near Taiwan.
While the ministry aims to be as transparent as possible, saying too much could reveal information about Taiwan’s surveillance and intelligence capabilities, which would further expose them to China, Koo said.
This is a dilemma that the ministry would continue to review, he added.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
‘POOP ON STAGE’: The song, which talks about the reluctance to graduate and anxiety about a lack of job opportunities, resonated with many students’ feelings The original song Poop on Stage has been chosen as National Taiwan University’s (NTU) graduation song this year, sparking much debate regarding the song’s title and content, which describes students’ anxiety about post-graduation unemployment. The title, Shang Tai Da Bian (上台大便), is a play on words that literally means “go on stage to poop.” The first three characters, shang tai da (上台大), also mean “to attend NTU,” as “Taida” is a common abbreviation for the university. The last character, bian (便), can mean “convenient” or “then,” but is more commonly associated with defecation. The lyrics of the song describe students’ reluctance to graduate and
RSS