Free Republic

Taiwan is planning to purchase torpedoes and heavy tanks from the United States in an attempt to further fortify its defense capabilities against China. The Liberty Times reported that Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou ordered the country's defense ministry to draft a draw up a shopping list of weapons that include MK-54 torpedoes, dozens of M1A2 tanks and amphibious landing vehicles. If acquired, the Taipei daily reported, the torpedoes will be used to replace Taiwan's aging MK-46s. The decision comes despite an easing of tense relations between China and Taiwan in recent years. The move also follows a decision by the...

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates defended US arms sales to Taipei on Wednesday, citing China's "extraordinary" deployment of cruise and ballistic missiles opposite Taiwan. Both Gates and Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged concern over China's suspension of military contacts with the United States because of the arms sales. But the secretary said the US arms sales were in keeping with the Taiwan Relations Act, and suggested the improvement in relations between Beijing and Taipei had not diminished the need for them. "We certainly applaud the growing links between Taiwan and the Peoples Republic,"...

The United States will further evaluate whether to upgrade Taiwan's existing F-16 A/B fighters or make new sales of F-16 C/D fighters to Taiwan to help it maintain a viable air defense, a senior U.S. Air Force official said Thursday. Bruce Lemkin, deputy under secretary of the Air Force for international affairs, acknowledged that Taiwan's air defense capability will continue to decline in the coming years due to the aging of its F-16 A/B fleet and problems with maintaining its Indigenous Defense Fighters. However, further assessment as to how the situation can be improved is needed, whether by upgrading the...

Field training for the annual Hankuang war games this year will be brought forward to late April to allow the troops to be deployed to help combat possible flooding in the coming typhoon season later in the year, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced Tuesday at a news conference. Lee Yue-chang, assistant deputy chief of the General Staff for Operations and Planning under the MND, said the field training will be held in late April instead of in the traditional July-October period so that the troops can be better trained in May and June in preparation...