Free Republic

ROC Navy unveils "High Efficiency Wave Piercing Catamaran" at TADTE 2013 show At TADTE 2013, the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition, ROC Navy (Republic of China - Taiwan) unveiled a vessel currently under construction by the Lung-De Shipbuilding Corporation dubbed the "High Efficiency Wave Piercing Catamaran (WPC)" The High Efficiency Wave Piercing Catamaran is Taiwan's Navy future Littoral Combat Ship solution under the Hsun Hai program. With a length of 60.4 meters this corvette size vessel is designed for littoral operations. A sign on display at the show indicated: "In order to face the increasing threat across the Taiwan...

Explanation: It took three worlds to create this simple image. The first world was the Earth, which was quite prominent. The dividing line running horizontally below the middle separates sea from sky. On this part of the Earth, it was almost nighttime. The second world was the Moon, which was almost invisible. The Moon had its unilluminated half masked by the red sunset glow of Earth's sky. A thin sliver of the new Moon was visible, a crescent that traces the bright curving line. The third world was the Sun, which does not appear directly. All of the light recorded...

President Obama vetoes Samsung patent ban on iPhone 4 and select iPads Dante D'Orazio on August 3, 2013 The Obama administration has stepped in today to veto an import ban Samsung won from the International Trade Commission to prevent the iPhone 4 and some iPads from coming into the US. The move marks the first time since 1987 that a President has interfered with an ITC order. Such import bans, which effectively prohibit the sale of certain devices, have come under scrutiny from the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission as more companies are seeking the bans (instead of...

The Obama administration on Saturday vetoed a U.S. trade body's ban on the sale of some Apple AAPL +1.28%iPhones and iPads, a rare move that upends a legal victory for smartphone rival Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE +0.47% U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman made the decision to veto the ban on the Apple devices, citing concerns about patent holders gaining "undue leverage." He said Samsung could continue to pursue its patent rights through the courts.

Taiwanese lawmakers exchanged punches and threw water at each other Friday ahead of an expected vote that would authorize a referendum on whether to finish a fourth nuclear power plant on the densely populated island of 23 million people. Nuclear power has long been a contentious issue in Taiwan and became more so following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011. While many Taiwanese consider nuclear power generation an unacceptable safety risk for the earthquake-prone island, economic analyses suggest disruptive power shortages are inevitable if the fourth plant is not completed.

Taiwan has started a computerized military exercise to simulate a scenario of China’s launching of an invasion on the island in 2017. The five-day maneuver that started on Monday is part of Taiwan’s biggest annual military drill with this year’s exercise being codenamed 'Han Kuang 29', AFP quoted defense ministry officials as saying. The Taiwanese defense ministry said that the drill simulates a surprise attack followed by a large-scale invasion by China in 2017. It did not, however, provide any explanation as to why the scenario was being considered for that specific year. “Over the past few years, ties across...

Taiwan Makes Pitch for Purchase of F-35 Fighter Jets WASHINGTON --- A delegation from the Taiwan-US Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association of Taiwan's Legislature said Wednesday in Washington that Taiwan wants to purchase advanced F-35 fighter jets that best suit its defense needs. Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator and Association Chairman Lin Yu-fang briefed reporters in Washington after the delegation's meeting at the Pentagon with David Helvey, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, to discuss Taiwan's needs for advanced defense weaponry. The delegation members, in their capacity as the Republic of China (ROC) lawmakers, also met with Gregory Kausner, deputy assistant secretary...

It’s the latest addition to its expanding international network and seventh Asian gateway destination. The departure of HA 807 followed gate side festivities that included Hawaiian music and hula, performance honoring the Taiwanese culture, traditional Hawaiian blessing, and presentation of lei to passengers boarding the inaugural flight. “The demand for service to Hawaii from the Taiwan market has been growing and we are delighted to respond to the strong interest by delivering our new non-stop service to and from Taipei,” Hawaiian Airlines President and CEO Mark Dunkerley said. “The Hawaiian Islands are the ideal midpoint destination, perfectly situated to offer...

If news reports correctly reflect public sentiment, it seems fair to deduce that worry and frustration are rising in the Philippines amid diplomatic tension with Taiwan, triggered by the tragic killing of a 65-year-old Taiwanese fisherman by members of the Philippine Coast Guard on May 9 in Balintang Channel. Angered by the incident, Taiwan has made four demands: a formal apology, compensation, punishment for the guilty officers, and fishing talks. Taiwan has since stopped issuing work visas to Filipinos and has conducted military exercises near Philippine waters. To make matters worse, Filipinos, especially politicians, did not immediately recognize the political...

Filipino police shot a 65-year old Taiwanese fisherman in the neck a few days ago in the latest dispute to heat up the South China Sea. Things escalated quickly after the “accident” and now two American allies are at each other’s throats. The Philippines apologized twice for the “accident,” in which the coast guard riddled the fisherman’s boat with dozens of bullets, but Taiwan was having none of it. Taiwan recalled its ambassador and stopped accepting applications from Filipino workers applying to live in Taiwan. Then the Taiwanese navy held threatening drills near the spot where the fisherman was killed....

China is attempting to open a new front in its territorial dispute with Japan by questioning Tokyo's sovereignty over the island of Okinawa, home to 25,000 US troops. The two countries are already pushing rival claims to the Senkakus, a chain of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that are controlled by Tokyo. The dispute over the islands, known as the Diaoyu in China, has hit bilateral trade and sent diplomatic relations to their lowest point for decades. Beijing began its attempt to broaden the territorial dispute earlier this month when the communist party newspaper, the People's Daily, ran...

AFP - Taiwan on Wednesday reported the first case of the H7N9 bird flu outside of mainland China. The 53-year-old man, who had been working in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou, showed symptoms three days after returning to Taiwan via Shanghai, the Centers for Disease Control said, adding that he had been hospitalised since April 16 and was in a critical condition. A passenger (right) has her temperature checked by a Centers for Disease Control staff member at the entrance of Sungshan Airport in Taipei on April 4, 2013. Taiwan on Wednesday reported the first case of the H7N9...

Asian Security: As Korea festers, our friends in Beijing have deployed near Taiwan a powerful missile designed to take out U.S. aircraft carriers as Beijing strengthens its ability to prevent U.S. forces from aiding Taiwan. When North Korea announced the 1953 Armistice was considered null and void and threatened renewed missile tests, the U.S. rushed naval assets to the region, including two destroyers equipped with the Aegis anti-missile defense system. We presumably would do so if things heated up between Beijing and its claimed "lost province," Taiwan. That option became increasingly problematical when news of China's deployment of an anti-ship...

BEIJING (Reuters) - Growth in China's vast factory sector dipped in April as new export orders shrank, a preliminary survey of factory managers showed on Tuesday, suggesting the world's second-largest economy still faces formidable global headwinds into the second quarter. The flash HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index for April fell to 50.5 in April from 51.6 in March but was still stronger than February's reading of 50.4. A sub-index measuring new export orders fell to 48.6 in April from 50.5 in March, reflecting weaker global demand as the U.S. economic recovery remains fragile and the euro zone is mired in recession....

Hsiung Feng I anti-ship missiles have been retired TAIPEI, Taiwan -- All Hsiung Feng I anti-ship missiles (雄風一型反艦飛彈), a derivative of the Israeli Gabriel missile Mk II, were officially decommissioned from Taiwan's military late last year, the Navy said yesterday. The last batch of Hsiung Feng I missiles, the first generation anti-ship missile used by the Navy, were sent to the military's chief research facility, the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (中山科學研究院) (CSIST) to be destroyed by the end of 2012, the Navy Command told the Chinese-language United Evening News yesterday. They are replaced by the latest generation Hsiung...

Event Time 2013-03-27 02:03:20 UTC 2013-03-27 10:03:20 UTC+08:00 at epicenter 2013-03-26 21:03:20 UTC-05:00 system time Location 23.840°N 121.135°E depth=20.7km (12.9mi)

Unlike the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which faces no existential threat, our Asian ally faces an increasingly belligerent and well-armed China. Yet only one gets the latest weaponry and the question is why. On Jan. 30, a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer in the East China Sea near the disputed Senkaku Islands just north of Taiwan was "painted" by fire control-radar from two People's Liberation Army warships, believed to be the Chinese frigates Linyungang and Wenzhou. This was just the latest provocation by a China flexing its deep water naval muscle as it asserts itself in the East and South...

The Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics  just released findings (with extensive evidentiary supporting documents) that there is “substantial reason to believe” Rep. Bill Owens (D-NY21) violated federal law and House Rules in connection with a trip to Taiwan (emphasis added): NATURE OF THE ALLEGED VIOLATIONS: Representative Bill Owens may have accepted payment of travel expenses for an officially connected trip to Taiwan from an impermissible source, resulting in an impermissible gift, in violation of federal law and House Rules. Representative Owens may have accepted payment of travel expenses for an officially connected trip to Taiwan, when that trip was in some part planned,...

Senior Colonel Liu Mingfu of China's National Defence University has raised the specter of a nuclear war, and warned Australia not to side with America and Japan. Liu is not an official spokesman for China, but his views are approved. Referring to the dispute between Japan and China over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, Liu said that China was prepared to fight "to the death": America is the global tiger and Japan is Asia's wolf and both are now madly biting China. Of all the animals, Chinese people hate the wolf the most. If this Japanese wolf again attacks America's Pearl Harbor...

In the wake of increased tension with Japan over disputed islands, China’s soldiers have been directed to be ready for a war in 2013 and also win it. Government Chinese media disclosed this in a report. The report also said the soldiers are being prepared to the best possible level and that they are being trained for the purpose. According to reports, in 2012, no such directive- of getting ready for a war and winning it- was given. The Chinese army has also been told to improve its activities and enhance information and intelligence gathering techniques. In 20th century, Japan...