A project in China involving an ultra-high-speed low-vacuum tube maglev transport system, also known as the "high-speed flying train," with a maximum travel speed of 1,000 kilometers per hour, has completed a test for the system's integrated demonstration, showing that the full-sized test line has achieved conditions for its acceptance.
Representatives from the project said that this test improved the overall technical maturity of the system, laying a solid technical foundation for the next test, Science and Technology Daily reported on Monday.
The demonstration was conducted in a low-vacuum tube with a total length of 2 kilometers, the first phase of the project. The test performance and results were in line with predetermined figures, including magnetic suspension travel and brakes, maximum travel speed, and the magnetic suspension height of the vehicle, marking the success of the test.
The "high-speed flying train" may be deployed on commuter routes in mega-city clusters. It could shorten the travel time between Beijing and Shanghai to as little as 90 minutes, said the report.
The successful test indicated the concrete progress of the development of China's ultra-high-speed train, Sun Zhang, a railway expert at Shanghai Tongji University, told the Global Times on Monday. Long-term safety verification work needs to be implemented before it becomes a commonly used public transport system, Zhang said.
The full-sized test line was co-built by the government of North China's Shanxi Province and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, and it is located in Yanggao, under Datong. Construction started in April 2022 and wrapped up in November 2023. The project combines aerospace technology and ground rail transportation technology, aiming to create trains with a top speed of 1,000 kilometers per hour.
The concept of a transportation system in a low-pressure tube was proposed in 2013 by Elon Musk, who called it Hyperloop, but his company focusing on developing the system - Hyperloop One - was shut down at the end of 2023, Reuters has reported.
The official website of UK-based Virgin showed that its Virgin Hyperloop made its first successful passenger test in 2020.
Analysts said that it is hard to predict which country will be the first to operate a high-speed maglev train, but it is more practical to make such systems profitable in China, which has a huge population and a solid foundation in rail transport.
As of the end of 2023, the length of China's railways in commercial operation reached 159,000 kilometers, with more than 45,000 km of the total being high-speed lines, official data showed.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that Washington has "serious concerns" about the announced results of Venezuelan presidential election won by incumbent President Nicolas Maduro, claiming it reflected "neither the will nor the votes of the Venezuelan people." Do American politicians know the will of the Venezuelan people better than the people themselves? Obviously not.
The US has significantly increased its interference in the affairs of Venezuela and other countries, attempting to reshape their political ecology through ideology. If a US-supported candidate wins an election, it will be described as fair and free; if not, it is labeled as unfair and lacking transparency. This tactic is a common method used by the US to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations.
The US incited Venezuela's opposition to refuse to recognize Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela in 2019. Because the US considers Latin America to be its backyard, any political force or figure that goes against the will or interests of American political elites will become a target of the US, like a thorn in its side.
The US policy toward Latin American countries fundamentally serves the interests of the US. As a result, the regimes of some Latin American countries backed by the US are completely disconnected from the interests of their peoples. The repeated occurrence of unrest in Latin America can also be attributed to US interventions, which violate the UN Charter and basic principles of international relations. These interventions undermine the sovereignty and interests of Latin American countries, including Venezuela, and pose a significant threat to peace and development in the region.
The US has long sought to prioritize its own geopolitical interests and values over international law. "Maduro insists on pursuing independence and resisting Venezuela becoming a puppet of other countries. However, the US takes it for granted that all countries in Latin America have no right to independence and must comply with US desires. The US justifies its interference in Latin American countries' internal affairs based on the so-called Monroe Doctrine, despite this doctrine being in conflict with international law," Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times.
During President Maduro's term, Venezuela has encountered severe sanctions from the US and some other Western countries, and was also threatened by military intervention. In April, the Biden administration even announced the reinstatement of some of the previously lifted sanctions, accusing President Maduro of failing to commit to free and fair elections. All these moves have exacerbated political and economic instability in Venezuela.
Noticeably, the intensity of US sanctions usually depends on American elites' assessment of the domestic situation of the sanctioned target. If the US intensifies sanctions, it means that the force or figure they oppose has become stronger, which also suggests that the US has less space to maneuver or subvert in Venezuela. If the US insists on its interference in Latin America and further undermine regional cooperation and development by abusing sanctions, its hegemonic behaviors will surely be increasingly criticized by countries in the region and the international community.
This election in Venezuela reflects the desire of people in developing countries for equality and justice to certain extent. The political and development direction of a country should be in the hands of its own people. Any external force, no matter how powerful, has no right to impose its own political standards on other countries.
China has congratulated Venezuela's successful presidential election and President Maduro's re-election on the same day. China's respect for independent elections stands in sharp contrast to the US' interference.
China emphasizes mutual benefits, mutual understanding and win-win results based on equality, while the US' policy toward Latin American countries is characterized by hegemony and interference in their internal affairs without a sense of equality. The US not only seeks economic and political dominance over Latin American countries but also uses military intimidation. China's relationship with Latin American countries, including Venezuela, is based on equality, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, while the US is seen as a bully creating subversion and chaos. It is clear that which kind of relationship is more favored by Latin American countries.
With 18 golds, China was sitting on top of the Olympic gold medal table as of Sunday evening, followed by the US and host France, with many being claimed by Gen-Z athletes in fields outside China's traditional strengths. China also bagged 15 silvers and 9 bronzes so far.
Through the young generation's performance across the arenas, their interactions with other athletes and the audiences, and their voices in the media, the world can see a vibrant, confident, fashionable, friendly, brave and outspoken China, analysts said.
Liu Yu, a Beijing-based sports commentator, told the Global Times on Sunday that China has maintained its dominance in some traditional strengths such as diving, table tennis, badminton and shooting, but more importantly, Chinese athletes have achieved groundbreaking successes in swimming and tennis.
The overall performances of the Chinese swimming team have served as a riposte to the skepticism and disregard that clouded the Chinese delegation.
Gold medalist Pan Zhanle's world record breaking feat in the 100m freestyle swimming is as historic as hurdler Liu Xiang's victory in the 110m hurdles at the 2004 Athens Olympics, as "both triumphed in sports that European and American athletes had dominated for a long time," Liu Yu said.
Pan, 19, broke his own world record to clinch gold on July 31, marking the first time a Chinese athlete has won gold in the men's 100m freestyle at an Olympic Games.
"Given the abnormal frequency of doping tests and speculation from foreign media, the Chinese swimming team's performances are all the more remarkable," Liu Yu said.
Another history maker is 21-year-old Zheng Qinwen who on Saturday became the first Asia-born player to claim gold in a tennis singles event at the Olympics, when she beat her opponent Croatia's Donna Vekic in straight sets.
"Athletes like Pan and Zheng have become the national pride and they are sure to inspire younger generations in the years ahead," Liu Yu noted.
Gen-Z athletes have also made their marks in the global sporting showpiece through their unique demeanor and relaxed attitude, which have captured the attention and admiration of spectators worldwide.
Chinese shooters Huang Yu-ting and Sheng Lihao, who clinched China's first gold in Paris 2024 in the 10m air rifle mixed team event, gained widespread attention for their interesting internet names and their composure in intense competition on Chinese social media.
The attitude and demeanor of Gen-Z athletes have shifted people's focus from tallying gold medals to embracing the excitement of sports and the true spirit of the Olympics, Liu Yu said.
The average age of the Chinese sports delegation to the Paris Games is 25. Eleven-year-old skateboarder Zheng Haohao, the youngest member of the Chinese delegation, is one of the Gen-Z athletes aiming for medals in emerging Olympic sports. Many of her peers are striving in sports such as breakdancing, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing.
Outspoken, brave and friendly
The performance of Chinese athletes in "Western-dominated" sports like swimming and tennis has become a loud response to biased comments, disrespectful actions and even groundless accusations with racist opinions from some people and media in the West.
Swimmer Pan revealed to media the disrespectful behaviors he felt from Australian and US swimmers in a relay event, and responded with his clean record and gold medal.
When some Western media continue the doping smears, Zhang Yufei, a female swimmer and bronze medalist in Paris, rebuffed the skepticism over Pan's new world record at a press conference on Thursday with confidence.
Zhang lays bare Western double standards by asking "Why are Chinese athletes questioned when they achieve fast times, yet no one doubted Michael Phelps when he won seven or eight gold medals? Similarly, Katie Ledecky has dominated long-distance swimming from 2012 to 2024, winning gold in every event, yet no one questioned her performances?"
Li Xiang, a sports commentator and Olympics reporter, told the Global Times on Sunday that these Chinese athletes have shown that China's Gen-Zers will not tolerate or keep silent to the provocations, and they will fight back directly. More importantly, they are capable of responding to groundless, biased and even racist accusations with their strengths and performance in the arenas.
They can represent China's image in the new era to the world. They are outspoken with an attitude, interact with their peer athletes and spectators positively and serve as "envoys of people-to-people exchanges," Li noted.
After Chinese pair Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha claimed gold for table tennis mixed doubles on July 30, they asked North Korean silver medalists Ri Jong-sik and Kim Kum-yong and South Korean bronze medalists Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon to pose for a group selfie.
It was a perfect portrayal of sports' capacity to unite, as the athletes' smiles illuminated the sentiment that triumphs and titles, though important, are not the only takeaways, said a comment published on August 2 by the Xinhua News Agency.
Some Western media have always been trying to depict China as a rigid authoritarian country with no freedom and fun, and that Chinese people are not cool at all, but Chinese Gen-Z athletes tell the opposite story in Paris, breaking bias and lies circulating in the West.
"They are the best symbols of China's soft power today," Li noted.
As China's contribution to the world's largest intergovernmental international radio telescope project Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO), the first batch of the China-built middle-frequency antenna dishes of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) radio telescope set off for South Africa on Wednesday.
The antenna dishes to be installed in Karoo, the remote desert region in South Africa, are expected to help detect signals from the most distant parts of the universe, marking a significant step of China in participating in the international mega-science project.
The first four antenna dishes, officially abbreviated as SKA-Mid, have passed the factory acceptance test in quality in Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei Province, and will be transported by heavy-lift trucks to a port in North China's Tianjin Municipality, where they will be shipped to South Africa.
The SKA is an ambitious scientific endeavor which is jointly funded, built and run by more than 10 countries including China, the UK, Australia and South Africa, with more than 100 organizations from 18 different countries participating in the development of the telescope. It will feature much higher sensitivity and survey speeds than any other radio instrument array developed so far.
The SKA is a collection of various types of antennas, called an array, and the middle-frequency dish is the core facility of the middle-frequency array in the SKA radio telescope.
China is responsible for the research and development of the SKA-Mid dishes as well as the mass production for the instruments. The first batch of the 64 SKA-Mid dishes will be expected to be installed by the end of 2026, marking China's contribution in human's exploration into the universe.
Another major section of the SKA project, the low-frequency antennas, or SKA-Low, will be located in the remote Murchison area in Western Australia.
Hundreds of thousands of SKA antennas will be built in multiple sites including South Africa, and its eight African partner countries, including Botswana, Ghana and Kenya, as well as in Australia.
When the project is completed, it is spread over long distances with up to one square kilometer in total collecting surface area, the equivalent of 140 soccer fields.
The SKA radio telescope carries the mission of helping humanity understand the mysteries of the universe and life, and is dedicated to exploring fundamental questions such as exploring the origin and evolution of the universe and galaxies, discovering more galaxies, searching for new cradles of life, and seeking extraterrestrial life.
Two chefs from a restaurant in Nantong, East China’s Jiangsu Province, were sentenced to two years and one year and six months in prison, respectively, with probation, and were fined 160,000 yuan ($22,000) altogether for the production and sale of toxic and harmful food. They were found to have put prescription antidiarrheal medicine in diners’ dishes to avoid mass food-poisoning incident.
Gentamicin sulfate, a kind of antibiotic and prescription medicine used for treating diarrhea, had been illegally put by the restaurant’s head chef surnamed Sha and the cook surnamed Fu into a total of 1,612 helpings of stewed dishes, with the total sales revenue of 77,376 yuan, since 2023. According to China’s Food Safety Law, medicines shall not be added to food products during production and sales, the Nanjing-based Modern Express reported.
Despite that gentamicin used to be a commonly used medicine for the treatment of dysentery and diarrhea, it also has a side effect of causing childhood deafness.
In September 2023, a staffer from the restaurant reported to the local government hotline that gentamicin injection was added as a food additive to the dishes at the restaurant. In a following raid, law enforcement personnel found four used boxes of gentamicin sulfate injection in the kitchen trash can and another 101 boxes of the antidiarrheal medicine yet to be used at the office of the head chef.
Tests on the dish samples collected from the restaurant and the unopened injection showed evidence of gentamicin.
The sentence was announced on April 23, 2024, and the two chefs have also made a public apology in media.
Law enforcement personnel also found that all the gentamicin sulfate injection was purchased from the same store of a chain pharmacy. A restaurant staffer surnamed Zhang bought the medicine without prescription.
Meanwhile, it violated the national regulations on drug management for the pharmacy to sell the prescription drugs without a prescription.
Through investigation, the local procuratorial authorities also found that multiple stores of the chain pharmacy had been illegally selling gentamicin sulfate injection for a long time.
On January 31, 2024, the local procuratorial authorities issued an advice to the local market supervision department and urged the market watchdog to punish the violations and carry out thorough investigations of illegally adding food additives and conduct special rectification on medicine retails.
Finally, the restaurant was fined 1.18 million yuan and its business license was revoked by the market supervision department. The two chefs and two restaurant managers were banned from working in the food production businesses or catering services for life or in the next five years. Both the restaurant and the four people were listed on the dishonest list.
Besides, the local market watchdog has inspected 335 catering service providers and 508 medicine retailor companies, and has ordered 120 pharmacies to conduct rectification.
Since the relationship between China and Australia is on the right track, we should not hesitate, deviate, or backtrack, and the development of the bilateral ties is not targeted at any third party, nor should it be influenced or interfered with by any third party, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Canberra on Wednesday.
Wang held the seventh China-Australia Foreign and Strategic Dialogue with Wong during the former's visit to Australia.
This is our sixth meeting, and each time we meet, mutual trust increases by one point, and the China-Australia relationship advances one step further, Wang told Wong.
The Chinese Foreign Minister said this is an important year that carries on the past and opens up the future. Building on the good momentum of bilateral relations so far, and both China and Australia should "work together to create the future" and, with a more proactive attitude, jointly build a more mature, stable, and fruitful comprehensive strategic partnership.
Over the past 10 years, the ups and downs of China-Australia relations have left us with lessons to learn and experiences to cherish, namely mutual respect, seeking common ground, pursuing mutual benefit, and to uphold independence and autonomy, Wang said.
Wang said China has always pursued an independent foreign policy of peace, and our policy toward Australia has been consistent. The development of China-Australia relations is not directed against any third party, nor should it be influenced or interfered with by any third party.
He noted that since China-Australia relations are on the right track, we should not hesitate, deviate, or backtrack. With a clear direction toward progress, we should strive to move forward steadily, well, and far. This is in the common interest of the two peoples and the general expectation of regional countries.
Wang also said that China is ready to work with Australia to prepare for high-level exchange between two countries and deepen cooperation on traditional field such as mineral, energy and agricultural products; also explore cooperation on new energy, digital economy, green development and coping with climate change.
He urged Australia to take concrete measures to uphold the principles of market economy and fair competition rules, and provide a fair, just, transparent, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises investing and operating in the country.
Wang elaborated with Wong on China's stance on issues related to island of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Xizang, and the South China Sea, emphasizing that there is no historical entanglement or fundamental conflict of interests between China and Australia, and that their common interests far outweigh their differences.
According to a handout related to the dialogue issued by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wong stated that Australia and China have close historical, trade, and cultural ties, and are comprehensive strategic partners. As countries in the same region, differences should not define the relationship between Australia and China.
She said that Australia is pleased to see significant progress in bilateral relations in recent years and is willing to further strengthen dialogue and communication with China on the basis of mutual respect, to manage differences, to leverage complementary advantages, and to deepen cooperation in economic, trade, and cultural fields.
Both sides agreed to resume and establish dialogues in various fields , promote more cooperation across foreign affairs, economic, trade, science and technology, education, and law enforcement departments of the two countries, and actively consider initiating a dialogue on maritime affairs. Both sides agreed to take further measures to facilitate the exchange of people between the two countries.
As China is making rapid progress in computing power, it is necessary to build a national unified computing power service market, a political advisor said at the annual two sessions.
China's computing infrastructure construction has reached the world's advanced level, and the total scale of computing power ranks second in the world, Yu Xiaohui, head of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) and a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), told the Global Times on Tuesday.
In 2023, the total size of China's data center racks reached 8.1 million standard racks and the scale of computing power reached 230 EFLOPS, Yu said.
EFLOPS is a measurement unit used to determine a computer's speed and is vital for technology advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality.
China aims to boost its aggregate computing power by more than 50 percent by 2025, according to an action plan released in October 2023 to promote high-quality development of the country's computing power technology.
According to the Government Work Report released on Tuesday, a push is needed to develop future-oriented digital infrastructure and a nationally unified computational system.
A national unified computing power service market is crucial for China's digital economy and AI innovation, Yu said.
Although China ranked second in the scale of computing power globally, there are challenges such as a lack of accurate matching between supply and demand, and regional disparities in computing power resources, Yu said.
For example, there are currently over 5,000 computing power providers with different technical systems, infrastructure, and interfaces. And while China's eastern regions have strong demand but lack resources, the western regions have resources but low demand and utilization rates.
Yu suggested that it is necessary to give full play to the advantages of the large national market and the successful experience of internet development to build a large service market for computing power.
In 2023, a total of 15 giant pandas returned to China from overseas after expiry of loan agreements. Among these 15 pandas, four are currently residing at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Southwest China's Sichuan Province and are in good condition, the Global Times learned during a recent visit.
On February 22, giant panda Yong Ming arrived in Chengdu from Japan with his twin daughters, Ying Bang and Tao Bang. On July 26, giant panda cub Yuan Meng, who was born in France, arrived in Chengdu and also joined the base, a staff member surnamed Liu at the research base told the Global Times.
Among all the returning pandas, Yong Ming is the oldest at 31 years old, which is about 100 years old in human terms. He is also the second oldest captive male giant panda in the world.
After arriving at the base, the pandas undergo quarantine and a period of isolation, said Liu. Once their condition stabilizes, they will be moved to open enclosures to meet the public.
During the visit, the Global Times reporter saw these pandas eating bamboo and enjoying their time at the base. All of them appeared to be in good physical and mental health, which was confirmed by the base's staff.
At the base, each panda has an outdoor activity area ranging from 500 to 800 square meters in size, which ensures that they have ample space to move around, Liu said. They also each have an "indoor apartment."
Since the return of the panda cub Xiang Xiang in February, a total of 15 pandas have returned to China in 2023 from countries including the US, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Malaysia, and the UK. In 2024, several more pandas are expected to return to China after their loan agreements expire.
These pandas, who have lived abroad for a long time, have also become favorites among Chinese tourists after returning to China. The Global Times has learned that many make special trips to the breeding base to visit these national treasures.
On the same visit, representatives from Pakistani media and think tanks expressed admiration for China's panda conservation efforts and shared their expectations for cooperation between China and Pakistan in this field.
"In the past, pandas were a globally endangered species, but China has taken special measures to protect them. Here, all the pandas receive excellent care," said Faiyan Zia Bangash, a senior reporter from Pakistan's The News.
"I have always had a special love for pandas, but it wasn't until today when I saw them with my own eyes that I truly experienced their cuteness," said Fahd Gauhar Malik, editor of the Pakistan Observer.
"I really hope that in the future, China and Pakistan can also have relevant cooperation so that the people of Pakistan can see pandas in their own zoos," Malik said.
"The most famous classic novel of China, A Journey to the West, as a matter of fact, is one of the few that have been translated and dubbed using Greenlandic voices for our national broadcasting TV. This shows that even though we are very far away from each other, we can build a bridge and a common future with mutual understanding and efforts," said Vivian Motzfeldt, Greenlandic minister for statehood and foreign affairs, at the official opening of the Greenlandic Representation on Monday at the Royal Danish Embassy in Beijing.
The reception was attended by the Danish Ambassador to China Thomas Østrup Møller, Greenlandic Minister for Statehood and Foreign Affairs Vivian Motzfeldt, head of the Greenland Representation in Beijing Jacob Isbosethsen, as well as other ministers and ambassadors.
"Royal Greenland has been present in Qingdao for 20 years now. Other companies, like Polar Seafood have also contributed a lot in exports and trade with China," Motzfeldt said.
She expressed her gratitude to the Chinese government and the Chinese People's Institute for Foreign Affairs for the cooperation between Greenland and China.
In addition, the Danish Embassy held an insightful seminar on tourism on Tuesday at the Greenland Representation in Beijing.
In her opening speech at the event, Motzfeldt emphasized the importance of tourism to the Greenlandic economy.
"The Government of Greenland has invested a lot in a new tourism policy and strategy. The Parliament and Government have decided to expand the runways and build three new airports in Nuuk, Ilulissat, and Qagortoq," she told the Global Times.
Air Greenland CEO Jacob Nitter Sørensen, head of Visa and Consular Affairs at the Royal Danish Embassy Charlotte Duelund, Polar Club 66 Co Ltd director Joe Chan, and other guests also introduced Greenlandic gastronomy, beautiful Arctic Circle, and other practical travel tips.
Lai Ching-te, deputy leader of the island of Taiwan and the secessionist Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) candidate for the 2024 regional elections, reportedly plans to stop over in the US on Saturday on his way to Paraguay, a blatant provocative act against China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Lai is scheduled to meet some anti-China politicians during his stopover in the US, and discuss topics including US arms sales to the island, Taiwan media sources reported.
Meanwhile, the White House is actively pursuing arms sales to Taiwan, with the latest military aid package worth $345 million announced to be offered to the island, the Associated Press reported on July 29. Earlier in June, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee claimed to have established a specialized task force to speed up processes of the country's military sales to its foreign clients including the island of Taiwan.
Setting aside VOA's lie in a recent Chinese-language article that "the US has been selling its most advanced equipment to Taiwan," military observers from both sides of Taiwan Straits have revealed to the Global Times that the equipment the US exported to the island of Taiwan are only single pieces of weaponry and a handful of weapon systems at least a generation behind those of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
The establishment of the task force named TIGER (Technical, Industrial, and Governmental Engagement for Readiness), as well as the frequent military sales and forms of aid extended to Taiwan, have completely exposed the US' hypocrisy on the Taiwan question, said experts on military and Taiwan studies from the Chinese mainland.
The US employs multifaceted policies toward the Taiwan Straits, which all serve its own interests in the region, said Ni Yongjie, director of the Shanghai Institute of Taiwan Studies.
"On one hand, several senior US officials visited the mainland this summer in a hope to ease the relations between Beijing and Washington; on the other hand, the US makes provocations toward China's bottom line on the Taiwan question," Ni told the Global Times. "These moves are a part of the Biden administration's public campaign feeding into next year's presidential elections."
In an article published by the Wall Street Journal in early June, Lai hyped an alleged military threat from the mainland and emphasized the supposed need for Taiwan to beef up its so-called military dependences with the aid of the US.
However, what may disappoint Taiwan secessionists like Lai is that evidence has shown the TIGER task force, as well as continued arms sales to the island of Taiwan, are more akin to lip-service that the US pays to the island's independence forces and a public stunt by the US government against China.
Lip service
Michael McCaul, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, announced the setup of the TIGER Task Force on June 27.
The bipartisan move was headed by Congressmen Mike Waltz and Seth Moulton. It is built to "modernize US foreign military sales processes in several key areas," so that it is "responsive to US national security needs and those of our partners and allies," according a press release published on the committee's website.
The TIGER task force has never hidden its main goal of completing arms sales to the island of Taiwan. "Our partners, like Taiwan, order American military equipment because they need it," Moulton said. "They should receive that hardware as quickly as possible."
According to a VOA Chinese-language article published on June 28, a big reason behind the establishment of TIGER was that many Congressmen were dissatisfied with the US administration's delay in delivering the weapons that authorities in Taiwan had purchased. "Some of the weapons were even bought as early as 2019."
The Taiwan DPP authority has bought numerous "weapons-on-paper" with tax payers' money from the US. It had faced delays in arms shipments from the US of up to $19 billion by 2022, The Defense Post reported in December 2022. Although Tsai Ing-wen is reported to have repeatedly urged US lawmakers to hasten the delivery of the purchased weapons during the latter's visit to the island, the US simply didn't keep its cheap promise.
Of a batch of 66 F-16V fighter jets that Tsai authorities purchased in 2020, for instance, two were scheduled to deliver by 2023. But the DDP authority won't get the two fighter jets this year as the delivery was delayed, said VOA.
Aside from weapon deliveries being delayed, authorities in Taiwan are also far from attaining equipment and technological advantages over the Chinese mainland through weapons bought from the US. "There is a generational gap between weapons the island of Taiwan receives from the US and those used by the PLA," said Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator.
"Moreover, the US has only provided authorities in Taiwan with single pieces of weaponry and a handful of weapon systems, which are not enough to support the latter in building an independent military combat system," Song told the Global Times.
The US' frequent delays in weapon delivery has embarrassed the island's secessionist authorities and enraged tax payers. On Taiwan's social media platforms, many residents have lampooned the Tsai administration for volunteering to be a cash dispenser for the US.
"The US obtains money [from Tsai authorities] fraudulently. It's a money game between two crooks," wrote a netizen who left the message on the island's media China Times. "The US doesn't have to keep its promises to its flunkey," scoffed another netizen.
And the public seldom knows what the TIGER task force has done in the days since it was set up. Its major effort is probably "to hold weekly video conferences" with Tsai authority troops, the China Times reported.
Obviously, TIGER won't enable separatists on the island to acquire weapons from the US any sooner, considering the US' scornful attitude toward Taiwan and its own inadequacy in weapon production, said Song.
The establishment of the task force is merely a superficial conciliation of Taiwan authorities by the US, he said.
"Taiwan authorities have no bargaining power in purchasing US weapons, nor do they dare to pursue claims for the delayed or defaulted orders," Song told the Global Times. "To the US, Tsai authorities are born suckers being taken for a ride."
Long-standing ills
TIGER is not the first task force the US has set up to promote its overseas arms sales.
In August 2022, the Pentagon established a similar "Tiger Team" to streamline foreign military sales mechanic, so as to "harness the speed and urgency of US efforts to equip Ukraine," Defense News quoted Pentagon policy chief Colin Kahl as saying in September 2022.
Nonetheless, these hastily formed task forces can hardly change the US' current delays of weapon deliveries due to long-standing problems in its defense industry.
"The ills are rooted in the US system and labor market issues," The EurAsian Times also reported in September 2022, mentioning the country's lengthy contract signing and arms delivery processes, and its labor shortage in the arms industry.
The number of employees working in the US defense industry plummeted by two thirds over the last 40 years, showed a report released by the US National Defense Industrial Association in February.
In 1985, the US had 3 million workers in the defense industry; by 2021, it had 1.1 million workers in the sector, the report said. The US defense ecosystem has suffered a net loss of 17,045 companies in the last five years, it added.
"Key industrial readiness indicators for great power competition are going in the wrong direction," commented the report.
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is exhausting available weapon stocks in the US and Europe, has brought about new problems for US arms exporters, as manufacturers have to spare more time and resources in sending weapons to Ukraine, observers found.
The conflict has caused numerous delivery delays to US weapon purchasers. "In many cases accelerated delivery is not possible," stated a report delivered by the US State Department to Congress in April, according to a National Review article in June. While the Pentagon is prioritizing Taiwan arms sales to the fullest extent possible, "limited resources cause ongoing strain," the report added.
Task forces like TIGER can therefore hardly change the status quo, as Russia-Ukraine tensions keep consuming weapons, and moreover, "it's difficult to change the US' current arms sales mechanism," Song said.
A good excuse
The US House and Senate drafts authorized a record $886 billion in defense spending for the fiscal year 2024. China, frequently seen in various US budget application reports, has long been a good excuse for the US government and military to inflate budgets.
Even members of the TIGER task force repeatedly mention China. Many have found that they, along with some US media sources, together, portray China as the biggest rival to the US military industry.
TIGER's founding was predicated upon the intention to "better compete with China" and to "counter Chinese influence" in the arms sales sector. In a September 2022 article, The EurAsian Times cited a report by a Washington-based think tank as stating that "China exported conventional weapons worth around $17 billion between 2010 and 2020," attempting to exaggerate the threat of China's military industry to its US peers.
They ignore the fact that the US, as the world's largest arms exporter, earns no less than $45 billion in annual weapon sales.
The sensationalization of China's military industry threat obviously favors US arms manufacturers and other interested parties, experts said. "By hyping up the threat, the US wants to put increasing pressure on China's weapon exports, and heighten a sense of crisis among its allies," said Song.
"The US unscrupulously exports offensive weapons to maximize its economic profit, and even offers its allies [destructive] weapons that can change the situation and balance of forces in a region," Song told the Global Times.
The arms sales to Taiwan are no more than a card played by anti-China politicians and Taiwan separatist forces, said observers, noting that it enriches US weapon manufacturers while the ordinary people of Taiwan and numerous taxpayers suffer from the dirty deal.
