2021/06/21
The Ministry of National Defense issued a press release on the media reports stating the asking price for “Harpoon Missile” may exceed NT$ 100billion, and it is suspected that the arms sales are related to "US donation of 2.5 million doses of Moderna
In response to the coverage media report saying that "the price of Harpoon missiles US sold us is marked at NT$100 billion," the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said today (21) that the content of report is wholly speculation made up by the media, and it has conducted the elaboration as follows:
1. In October last year (2020), US government agreed to sell 100 sets of 400 "Harpoon Coastal Defense Systems" to Taiwan, and the ceiling limit of arms sales is about US$23.7 billion. Given with the planned exchange rate in 2021 as NT$30.05, the entire package should amount to about NT$71.2 billion; hence, there is never such asking price as exceeding NT$100 billion. As for media report rumored on the net, the story stating that “US donation of 2.5 million doses of Moderna COVID 19 Vaccine to Taiwan is suspected to be related to the case of arms purchase” is wholly nonsensical and totally irrelevant.
2. The Ministry of National Defense (MDN) once again emphasized that all arms purchase from foreign country by the Armed Forces have accommodated to homeland defense, and are implemented in accordance with laws and regulations. Besides, these arms purchases are fully made public on the government website of Taiwan and the United States, and the MND calls on the nationals for support.