Taiwan’s missile defense set for upgrade
　

NECESSARY SERVICE: US arms firm Raytheon will help refurbish the nation’s missile defense system, train missile operators and help prepare for an attack from China
　

By William Lowther
STAFF REPORTER IN WASHINGTON
Thursday, Sep 03, 2009, Page 1

The capabilities of Taiwan’s Patriot Air and Missile Defense System will be reinforced later this year by a major new contract awarded this week to US defense firm Raytheon.

The US Army Aviation and Missile Command is to give Raytheon US$26.9 million to “refurbish” Taiwan’s Patriot system, train operators and help prepare for an attack.

The service is necessary because the Patriots have been upgraded to “Configuration-3” status ahead of schedule.

“We’re very pleased that the upgrades are happening on an accelerated timeline,” said Sanjay Kapoor, vice president for Patriot Programs at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems.

“This will provide Taiwan with an enhanced level of security sooner than expected. Upgrades ensure that Taiwan’s Patriots are fully capable of detecting, classifying and engaging all known and future hostile threats, including aircraft, ballistic and cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles,” he said.

Raytheon won a US$154 million contract in January for the job.

Patriot missiles have a range of 70km and a maximum altitude of about 24km. The upgraded Patriot is designed to shoot down tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft.

But as William Hawkins, a former Republican Congressional staff member and consultant specializing in global security issues, wrote on a defense-themed Web site this week, Taiwan has not nearly enough Patriot systems “to blunt the barrage of short range ballistic missiles China has aimed at the island.”

Hawkins analyzed a new report by the RAND Corporation — a leading nonprofit US defense think tank — on the military balance across the Taiwan Strait.

“Depending on missile accuracy, between 90 and 240 short range ballistic missiles — well within the range of estimates of the number of launchers China will field in the near future — could, with proper warheads, cut every runway at Taiwan’s half-dozen main fighter bases and destroy essentially all of the aircraft parked on ramps in the open at those installations,” the study said.

“By so doing, China could knock the Republic of China Air Force out of the war for long enough to launch large-scale air raids on Taiwan intended to destroy any aircraft parked in shelters, as well as other hardened targets,” it said.

Hawkins said the destruction of airbases would cripple the ability of the US to fly in reinforcements.

He said the Patriot system was a “point defense system” that only covers certain high value sites.

“Taiwan needs an area defense missile defense system with the range to intercept Chinese ballistic missiles as they cross the strait,” Hawkins said.

“Japan has a similar problem, which also affects the defense of US bases on Okinawa. Tokyo has expressed interest in the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense [THAAD] system to augment its land-based ballistic missile defenses, which, like Taiwan, are based on the Patriot system,” he said.

“Japan and Taiwan should be allowed to buy THAAD,” he said.

Dalai Lama under ‘gag order’ from Taipei
　

HIGH-SPEED MONK: A group of approximately 100 protesters awaited the spiritual leader upon his arrival in Taipei, and one was taken away by police
　

By Jenny W. Hsu
STAFF REPORTER, WITH AGENCIES
Thursday, Sep 03, 2009, Page 1

“We have a typhoon blowing from Beijing.”— unnamed KMT official

The Dalai Lama arrived in Taipei yesterday as his nephew said the government had put a “gag order” on the exiled religious leader out of fears of Beijing’s reaction.

The Dalai Lama traveled on a high-speed train from Kaohsiung after two days focused on the plight of communities devastated by Typhoon Morakot last month.

The Dalai Lama’s nephew, Khedroob Thondup, told Agence France-Presse that Taiwan had directly requested the tour be kept low-profile.

“They put a gag order on him. Before he left India he was told not to say anything political and to curtail his activities,” said Thondup, also a member of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile in India.

“This was conveyed to our office in New Delhi. He was told to cut down even religious activities. This is all because of pressure from Beijing,” he said by telephone from India.

The Dalai Lama’s visit to Taiwan has triggered reactions from Beijing, which vilifies him as a “splittist” bent on Tibet independence, in turn causing pan-blue politicians to worry publicly about the impact on China ties.
　

“The coming few days will be extremely crucial,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) said.

“We have a typhoon blowing from Beijing,” an unnamed KMT official was quoted as saying by local media.

As the Dalai Lama arrived at the Howard Plaza Hotel in Taipei, about 100 supporters of Taiwan’s unification with China waved posters saying: “Taiwan, Tibet are both part of China.”

At least one demonstrator was carried away by police after a scuffle with officers before the Dalai Lama’s arrival.

Organizers said that the Dalai Lama would spent most of today at his hotel meeting Tibetan and Buddhist groups. The Dalai Lama has no scheduled public appearance today and is expected to return to India tomorrow.

Earlier in the day, the Dalai Lama held a dialogue in Kaohsiung with Cardinal Paul Shan (單國璽) on a broad range of topics including heaven, nature, humanity and deteriorating ethics and morality in society.

The event attracted an audience of more than 1,000 people, including Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) and Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp chairwoman Nita Ing (殷琪).

In the two-and-a-half-hour public conversation, the two religious leaders also elaborated on the differences between Buddhism and Christianity.

Meanwhile, the Kaohsiung City Government said the Dalai Lama donated US$50,000 to victims of Morakot yesterday through the office of Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu.

The Tibetan spiritual leader made the donation during a lunch gathering with the mayor and county commissioners of five local governments in southern Taiwan and asked that the money be put into the bank account of the nonprofit charity, United Way of Taiwan, the city government said in a press release.

The Dalai Lama also attached a brief letter to the monetary contribution, stressing that he is visiting Taiwan out of “humanitarian concern” and to give a helping hand to Morakot victims.

Chen, who was present at the gathering, gave a pair of bobble head dolls and bags of pineapple cakes to the Dalai Lama in appreciation for his love and care on behalf of Kaohsiung residents.

The Dalai Lama in return gave her a small golden Buddha.

At a separate setting yesterday, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said it would be “rude” and “impolite” of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) if he continued to refuse to meet the Dalai Lama, calling Ma an “inconsiderate host.”

The Dalai Lama, however, has not made a formal request to meet the president.

The DPP also criticized the government for not treating the religious leader as a head of state who is recognized by many countries as the official leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

“The Dalai Lama has visited Taiwan twice and each time was warmly received by the president — former presidents Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). During his 2001 visit, then-Taipei mayor Ma even called the Dalai Lama an eternal friend of Taipei City,” DPP Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said.

The government has not only given the Nobel Peace laureate the cold shoulder, it has also refused to dispatch an adequate security detail to ensure the Dalai Lama’s safety — not a way to treat a so-called “eternal friend,” Cheng said.

The Dalai Lama arrived on Sunday night under the invitation of seven local government chiefs in southern Taiwan to perform prayer services for the victims and survivors of Morakot.

The move, however, has elicited sharp words from the pan-blue camp and Beijing, which accused the DPP of exploiting the plight of victims to score political points.

The DPP said the Dalai Lama’s visit was non-political in nature and had only one purpose: to offer comfort and blessings for the survivors. The DPP said it was the critics who were twisting a simple humanitarian mission into a political battle.

On Tuesday, Buddhist Master Hsing Yun (星雲) was quoted as saying during a joint interview with journalists from China that the procedure for the Dalai Lama’s visit was wrong, as was the time and place of his visit, because he was not invited by representatives from disaster zones.

Hsing Yun said the whole thing was political manipulation.

“These are disaster zones, so he should have been invited by representatives of the hard-hit areas … without an invitation from local disaster areas, it is nothing short of a political manipulation beyond religious purposes,” Hsing Yun said.

In response, DPP Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩) said of Hsing Yun, who favors unification with China: “Isn’t he himself a political monk?”

DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said the result of a poll conducted by the DPP clearly showed public approval of the visit.

A recent telephone poll by the DPP showed that 75.4 percent of the 709 respondents supported the visit by the Dalai Lama and 67.2 percent agreed the visit was not political. The poll also said 77.7 percent of respondents felt protests against the Dalai Lama were inappropriate, and 79.6 percent said Beijing should not use cross-strait relations as a gambit to deter the visit.

Chen said the public had its own standards when it came to religious matters.

“Everybody knows clearly who is doing what,” she said.

Taiwan part of US since World War II: protesters
　

By Jenny W. Hsu
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Sep 03, 2009, Page 3
　

More than 300 protesters gathered in front of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday to urge the US to recognize Taiwan as an incorporated territory and assume full authority for its “military occupation.”

Waving a self-designed US Military Government flag — the shape of Taiwan superimposed on a US flag — the protesters, led by attorney Roger Lin (林志昇), chanted anti-government slogans and called for the expulsion of the Republic of China (ROC) “government-in-exile.”

In December 2006, Lin and a group of expatriates sued the US government, arguing that although Japan relinquished its claim over Taiwan after World War II, it did not hand it to China.

Since the US took occupied Japan and its overseas territories following victory in the war, the US was responsible for the final disposition of these areas, including Taiwan, the group said.

Lin said yesterday that according to the US State Department’s definition of terrorist groups, the ROC military establishment shares many traits with al-Qaeda.

Lin presented information in a manila envelope to AIT press officer Christopher Kavanagh and asked him to relay it to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Lin said if Clinton failed to respond to his plea, he would provide the information to major international media outlets.

The protesters were met by police who guard the AIT compound.

The crowd dispersed peacefully after Lin’s brief meeting with Kavanagh.

In Lin’s court case in the US, he said the San Francisco Treaty, which marked Japan’s surrender of Taiwan, did not say who should assume control of Taiwan and thus that it remains under the jurisdiction of the US. He said Taiwanese are entitled to be nationals, although not voting citizens, of the US, with US passports.

In April, the US Court of Appeal in Washington ruled in favor of the US government in an appeal of a district court ruling.

“Addressing [the] Appellants’ claims would require identification of Taiwan’s sovereign. The Executive Branch has deliberately remained silent on this issue and we cannot intrude on its decision,” the judges said.

Former Ma treasurers granted deferred indictment
　

By Shelley Huang
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Sep 03, 2009, Page 3

Taipei City Government treasurer Wu Li-ju (吳麗洳) and two others were granted deferred indictment by prosecutors for their alleged role in a scandal involving President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) special allowance funds when he was Taipei mayor.

Ma’s three treasurers, Wu, Liu Jin-jung (劉靜蓉) and Hsu Yu-mei (徐玉美), allegedly forged documents stating that some employees had been paid bonuses.

Taipei District prosecutors said because the treasurers had cooperated with the investigation after being confronted with the charges and had not profited from their crimes, they were granted a three year deferred indictment.

The three could be prosecuted after three years if they violate the terms of their probation.

The trio told prosecutors during the investigation that they prepared the documents knowing that the employees had not received the bonuses. However, they said they were following precedent and had not pocketed the funds.

The three were accused of claiming more than NT$850,000 in funds by submitting forged receipts to Yu Wen (余文), who served as Ma’s secretary at the time.

In February 2007, the Special Investigation Panel of the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors’ Office indicted Ma and Yu on charges of corruption.

Prosecutors alleged that Ma embezzled more than NT$12 million (US$400,000) from the mayoral fund with Yu’s help.

The Taipei District Court handed down the first verdict on Aug. 14, 2007.

Ma was found not guilty, while Yu was sentenced to 14 months in prison, which was later reduced to 12 months by the Taiwan High Court.

The ruling was approved by the Supreme Court.

Amnesty calls on Iraq to put end to ‘unfair’ executions

AP , BAGHDAD
Thursday, Sep 03, 2009, Page 6

Amnesty International called on Iraq on Tuesday to stop executions, saying death sentences were handed down in court proceedings that do not meet international standards for fair trials.

The human rights group said Iraq was believed to have at least 1,000 people on death row, including 150 people who had exhausted all legal means to stop their executions and faced hanging.

In a report, the group said the Iraqi government lacked transparency about the executions it has carried out.

Iraq has never released total figures on executions. Amnesty said it had counted 194 executions since the death penalty was reinstated in August 2004.

“However, Amnesty International believes the figures could be much higher, given the secrecy that surrounds these executions and the lack of public information around them,” the group said in a statement.

Iraqi Deputy Justice Minister Busho Ibrahim said he could not comment about the figures cited by the group, but he defended executing people convicted for “terrorist attacks against innocent and civilian victims in markets or in mosques.”

“If the terrorists are sentenced to death in a fair trial, then the law should be implemented in order to protect the lives of the people,” he said.

Amnesty said that many of the trials did not meet international standards and that some defendants have complained they were tortured into making confessions.

“Many of the death sentences were handed down following court proceedings which did not meet international standards for fair trials, as international human rights law requires,” it said.

Amnesty also said that the death penalty had failed to prevent attacks around the country. Deadly bombings, shootings and sectarian killings have left thousands of people dead since the US invasion in 2003.

Amnesty urges Obama to end Cuba embargo
　

PRICE OF ISOLATION: The group said in a report that Cuba was unable to import medical equipment and medicine from the US or any US firms based abroad

AFP , LONDON
Thursday, Sep 03, 2009, Page 7
　

Amnesty International yesterday urged US President Barack Obama to drop the “immoral” US embargo against Cuba, warning that millions were being denied proper healthcare and medicine.

The London-based rights organization issued the appeal days before an annual deadline for the US president to renew its decades-long embargo against Cuba under the Trading with the Enemy Act.

“This is the perfect opportunity for President Obama to distance himself from the failed policies of the past and to send a strong message to the US Congress on the need to end the embargo,” Amnesty International secretary general Irene Khan said.

The group, which published a report yesterday on the economic impact of Washington’s embargo, said Cuba was unable to import medicines, medical equipment and related technologies from the US or any US company based abroad.

“The US embargo against Cuba is immoral and should be lifted. It’s preventing millions of Cubans from benefiting from vital medicines and medical equipment essential for their health,” Khan said.

“Products patented in the USA or containing more than 20 percent US-manufactured parts or components cannot be exported to Cuba, even if they are produced in third countries,” she said.

The US requires that Cuba make progress on democracy before ending the economic embargo on its neighbor, which has been in place since 1962.

Obama has said he would be prepared to make changes in US-Cuban relations and so far has allowed Cuban-Americans to travel home more often and ended limits on the amount of money they send home.

Liu must go

Thursday, Sep 03, 2009, Page 8

A number of indicators have shown how dissatisfied Taiwanese are with the performance of the Cabinet.

Aside from the volleys of criticism fired by critics and typhoon victims over the Cabinet’s poor judgment and sluggish execution of rescue operations in the wake of Typhoon Morakot, various opinion polls have also found Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) is particularly unpopular.

A recent survey conducted by the Chinese-­language United Daily News, a media outlet generally perceived as sympathetic to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), put Liu’s approval rate at 20 percent. Meanwhile, a separate poll by TVBS, also known for its KMT-leaning stance, showed the approval rating for Liu’s performance had sunk to an embarrassing 13 percent.

In view of the numbers reflecting the public’s lack of confidence in the government’s administrative capability, Liu on Aug. 19 said he had reached a consensus with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to carry out an “across the board [Cabinet] reshuffle” early this month.

“The reshuffle will be a review across the board … of course I will be included in the assessment as well,” he said in response all of to the criticism.

Of course the government had to say something like that to stop the nosedive in ratings and to buy some time. It is fully aware of the shortness of most people’s attention spans. This deft move gave the impression that the government was addressing public concerns, while at the same time creating a window of delay in which people might forget what they were so angry about.

Now, two weeks later, Liu, commenting on the same topic on Tuesday, said the reshuffle would be moderate.

“The scale [of the reshuffle] will just be a little bit more than small-scale,” he said.

In other words, the reshuffle, slated to be announced on Monday, will not be as far-reaching as Liu promised.

By not conducting a full-scale review, the government has not only gone back on its word, it has insulted the public by assuming people will forgive and forget the administration’s ineptitude so quickly.

If Liu keeps his job as expected, it remains to be seen if the government will offer any justification for the decision or if it will act as though Liu’s performance has been acceptable.

This is reminiscent of last November when, faced with mounting protests, Liu famously said: “This kind of thing will blow over in a couple of days.”

The public has witnessed the incompetence of the Cabinet under Liu’s leadership, ruining public confidence in the government’s efficiency and crisis management. As the nation braces for the increasing threat of influenza A(H1N1), people have no faith in this government’s ability to care for them. An across-the-board Cabinet reshuffle as promised is therefore crucial to rebooting the public’s confidence in the government.

In an interview in May, Liu on his own initiative laid out three scenarios under which he would resign from the premiership.

“The three scenarios are: whether the people are not satisfied with me, whether the president is not satisfied with me and whether I am not satisfied with myself,” he said. “I will leave the post if any of these three find me unsatisfactory.”

Whether Ma is satisfied with Liu or whether Liu is satisfied with himself are a function of how out of touch the two are, but one thing is perfectly clear: The majority of Taiwanese are not satisfied with Liu’s performance.

How can Ma expect the public to believe the government he leads is capable if the upcoming Cabinet reshuffle turns out to be little more than a perfunctory act — and with such an incompetent premier leading the pack?