( Observer Network ) According to reports from multiple Taiwanese media, after the "lai pigs entered Taiwan", the Taiwanese authorities could not resist the repeated "urges" of US lawmakers, and Taiwan will spend money to purchase 24 aircraft from the United States including 16 Boeing 787-9 passenger planes. The purchase will cost NT$140.3 billion (RMB 31.78 billion).
Earlier this year, six U.S. lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on military plane on April 14 for a two-day visit. During this period, the chief Republican member of the US Senate Budget Committee, Lindsey Graham, publicly "selled" Boeing 787 passenger plane to the Taiwan authorities, and after returning to the United States, he also urged the purchase again.
At that time, the Taiwan authorities tried to "pretend to be deaf", and the airline " China Airlines " also showed that it was "reluctant" to this purchase. Unexpectedly, Taiwan really "pay" for it in the end. It has caused Taiwanese media person Zhao Shaokang to angrily criticize Tsai Ing-wen for "disregarding human life" and "is to trade aviation safety for political benefits."
Taiwan media person Zhao Shaokang (data photo)
Taiwan media " United News Network " released a video on April 30 showing that when the U.S. Senate Republican chief member Graham html When he visited Taiwan in mid-24, he publicly "selled" Boeing 787 to Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen, but was tragically "silenced" by the interpreters on the scene. Graham proposed, "We hope you buy (Boeing) 787", but the interpreters on the scene automatically ignored this sentence.
On April 15, Senator Graham (left) of the Republican Congress of the United States expressed his hope to Taiwan purchase Boeing 787. Taiwan media "United News Network" released a video screenshot
Seeing this scene, US Senator Portman couldn't hold back and mentioned the matter again 17 minutes after Graham's speech, saying, "Senator Graham just mentioned that the Boeing 787 passenger plane produced in South Carolina has the engine from Ohio ." At this point, the on-site interpretation was translated according to the original intention.
Interestingly, the Taiwan authorities also deleted Graham's "selling Boeing 787" in the Chinese version of the press release it issued, and are only retained in the English version.
According to Taiwanese media reports, after Graham returned to the United States, he continued to promote the order with a total price of US$8 billion (about RMB 55.21 billion) on April 21. This purchase is said to be regarded as a new goal for the United States to Taiwan after the "lapid pigs enter Taiwan".
Taiwan media "United Daily" reported at the time that Taiwan's "China Airlines" seemed reluctant to be the "buyer" named by the US side. China Airlines then stated that although the A330-300 passenger aircraft fleet reached the elimination period, it was reserved about the procurement case, and only said that whether the A330 medium-range fleet needs to be eliminated was the company's decision.
Screenshot of Taiwan media’s “United News” report
More than Taiwan media exposed the matter at the end of April, describing the US move as a “forced seller”, saying that the US lion spoke out loud, and the DPP authorities were willing to "lick the US", arousing disgust and anger among the people on the island.
Taiwan's DPP authorities were in a hurry, and many departments quickly argued that US lawmakers were concerned about and helped their country's industries, and were by no means "hard sales"; Taiwan's foreign affairs department also condemned the relevant reports as malicious slander and hurt the "Taiwan-US friendship"; Taiwan's "National Security Director" was the most outrageous, and Taiwan media reports that claim to vilify "Taiwan-US relations" may be a "cognitive war" of the mainland.
However, the latest news shows that the Taiwan authorities have really paid for the Boeing 787 that the US has "selled" many times...
Taiwan's "China Airlines" announced after convening an interim board meeting on August 30 that it will spend NT$140.3 billion (RMB 31.78 billion) to purchase 24 aircraft from the United States, including 16 US Boeing 787-9 passenger aircraft, which are expected to start delivery in 2025.
htmlOn August 31, Taiwanese media person Zhao Shaokang posted on Facebook, angrily yelling at Tsai Ing-wen, saying, "It's not impossible to buy a plane, but is it necessary to hide and hold a temporary meeting like this? In mid-April, the US senator asked Tsai Ing-wen to buy it. Tsai Ing-wen immediately asked China Airlines to "make a mission" and immediately booked the plane.The point is that Boeing 787 had a poor flight safety record before and was banned by FAA . Can such political procurement really reassure the public? ”Zhao Shaokang said bluntly, “The Tsai government’s use of Taiwan Airlines security for the political interests of the DPP is a very hateful act! ”
Zhao Shaokang wrote, “When the Boeing company manufactured the 787 passenger plane, it was exposed that the factory had security loopholes and manufacturing flaws. The New York Times reported that some employees did not even dare to take the 787 passenger plane; when the 787 passenger plane flew, many unexpected events occurred one after another, including computer system false alarm failure, engine oil leakage, and lithium battery problems that caused emergency landing, which even caused serious doubts about the fuselage structure. There were several fire incidents. Have these problems been completely solved? ”
He also raised a series of questions, “Taiwan’s China Airlines decided to purchase temporarily. Is it because many countries canceled the Boeing 787 and the plane could not sell too much inventory so they tried their best to sell it to Taiwan? China Airlines should come forward to explain why not buy Kongba ( Airbus ), but instead buy Boeing ? Wouldn't China Airlines' small shareholders question it? Wouldn't China Airlines passengers worry about the high cost of 787 and safety concerns? ”
Zhao Shaokang’s doubts were also approved by the people on the island, and they all criticized "Taiwanese authorities are a bad-hearted government" and "harmful to China Airlines" in the comment area.
However, the United States’ request for Taiwan to "force buying and selling" Boeing aircraft is no longer a new thing.
According to statistics from relevant Taiwan departments, from 1996 to 2000, Taiwan’s airlines purchased a total of 87 aircraft from Boeing with a total value of US$11 billion.
In November 2015, Taiwan EVA Air purchased 24 Boeing 787 aircraft, with an estimated amount of RMB 57.95 billion, becoming the largest aircraft purchase case in Taiwan’s civil aviation history.
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