Day: April 6, 2022

Defense experts told CNA Wednesday that Taiwan needs to continue to receive equipment and services to maintain its United States-made Patriot missile air defense system, as it is the nation’s primary defense against an initial Chinese missile attack should a cross-strait war break out.

The experts’ comments came after the U.S. government announced Tuesday that it has approved a US$95 million arms sale package to Taiwan focused on maintaining the Patriot missile system.

Three defense experts told CNA that a deal involving logistic support, maintenance and spare parts is crucial for Taiwan’s operation of the missile system, which is the first line of defense for the country in intercepting incoming Chinese ballistic and cruise missiles.

Su Tzu-yun (???), an analyst at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the Russian invasion of Ukraine has exposed the latter’s lack of a mid to long range missile defense system, which makes Ukraine vulnerable to Russian missile attacks.

Compared with Ukraine, Taiwan’s Patriot missile system allows the island to intercept incoming missiles, although there is some disagreement as to the efficacy of the system.

In addition to the imported system, Taiwan’s Air Force is equipped with indigenous developed Tien-Kung II & III, also known as Sky Bow long range surface-to-air missiles. These complement the Patriot missile system to establish more comprehensive air defenses against China, Su said.

Chieh Chung (??), an associate research fellow with the National Policy Foundation in Taipei, said Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles are smaller, more agile, more accurate and deploy in larger numbers which makes them highly effective against ballistic missiles.

Meanwhile, the indigenous Sky Bow missile is capable of intercepting both incoming enemy aircraft and ballistic missiles, he added.

According to Chou Yu-ping (???) a retired Air Force colonel from the defense ministry’s missile defense command, Taiwan currently deploys both the PAC-3 and the upgraded PAC-2 systems.

Both PAC-2 and PAC-3 have shown in battle that they are capable of intercepting missiles, he said.

On March 2021, Taiwan’s military confirmed that it has reached a deal with the U.S. to buy an upgraded version of PAC-3; namely, PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles, with deliveries to start in 2025 and deployment the following year.

The latest arms deal announced Tuesday by Washington could also mean the U.S. will send personnel to Taiwan soon to prepare for the upcoming PAC-3 upgrades, Chieh said.

Tuesday’s deal was the third arms package approved since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.

The first package, in August 2021, cost US$750 million and was for 40 Paladin M109A6 self-propelled howitzers.

The second package, in February, cost US$100 million and included equipment and services to support participation in the Patriot International Engineering Services Program (IESP) and Field Surveillance Program (FSP) for five years.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

Eric Chu (???), the chairman of Taiwan’s main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), named Alexander Huang (???) as the party’s envoy to the United States on Wednesday, while announcing his plan to visit the U.S. in May.

Huang, currently the chief of KMT’s Department of International Affairs, will head the KMT’s representative office in Washington, D.C. while Huang’s deputy Eric Huang (???) will serve as the party’s deputy representative to the U.S., Chu said during a KMT standing committee meeting.

While Alexander Huang is the top representative to the U.S., Eric Huang will be the one stationed in Washington permanently representing the opposition party, according to Chu.

Meanwhile, Chu said he is planning to visit the U.S. with his deputy Andrew Hsia (???) sometime next month, though more details of the upcoming trip are still under planning.

A KMT source told CNA that Chu will be making stops in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and San Francisco in his upcoming American trip, during when he will meet with U.S. officials and congresspersons, and pay visits to think tanks and schools.

Chu will also inaugurate the KMT’s representative office in Washington, D.C., the source added.

Huang is a professor and was the director of the Institute of Strategic Studies and the Institute of American Studies at New Taipei-based Tamkang University.

Huang served as deputy minister of the Mainland Affairs Council in charge of China affairs during the previous Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government from 2003 to 2004, and has worked closely with consecutive governments on foreign and security policy matters for decades.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

Taiwanese director Liao Hsiang-hsiung (???), who pioneered several filmmaking policies for Taiwan’s filmmakers when he worked for the government, passed away on April 2 at the age of 89, the Taipei-based Chinese Society of Cinematographers confirmed Wednesday.

Born on Dec. 3, 1933, Liao was a filmmaker before entering the Executive Yuan’s now defunct Government Information Office in the mid-1980s.

Liao initially served as a deputy chief of the Cabinet-level agency’s visual-audio department before then heading the agency’s film regulator, where he pioneered several policies that benefited Taiwan’s filmmaking industry.

As a filmmaker himself, Liao pushed for broader film inspection and rating procedures, and cemented government funding regulations for filmmakers.

He also tried to make Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards, the world’s oldest annual celebration of film from the Chinese-speaking world, more internationally inclusive.

Having learned about broadcast education in Japan and filmmaking in San Francisco in the early 1960s, Liao headed the media section of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan later in his life.

During his tenure as a filmmaker before switching gears to become a public servant, Liao made a number of films, such as the 1971 movie “Love can Forgive and Forget (????),” which garnered him a runner-up accolade for Best Feature Film at the 10th Golden Horse Awards in 1972 alongside late martial arts legend Bruce Lee’s (???) kung-fu classic “Fist of Fury (???).”

“Love can Forgive and Forget” also earned Japan-based veteran actress Judy Ongg (???) her only Golden Horse Best Actress win at the same award ceremony.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

Home quarantine rules for people in Taiwan confirmed as having come into contact with COVID-19 positive individuals have been relaxed amid growing local infections from unknown sources, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Wednesday.

Taiwan reported 281 new domestic cases Wednesday, the highest single-day number this year, with the source of infection still being investigated in 163 cases, according to the CECC.

Before the relaxed rules were announced, people listed as contacts of confirmed cases and ordered by the health authorities to isolate at home had to do so in an independent living unit.

Under the new rules, which came in effect Wednesday, people required to undergo home quarantine can do so in their residence, even if they do not live alone, according to the CECC.

The new rules have been introduced, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (???) during a CECC press briefing that day, because the current spread of COVID-19 in Taiwan mainly involves the more infectious Omicron variant of the virus.

In many cases, if one individual in a household is infected, others in the same residence often contract the virus, he said.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel