The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of China has decided to invest around 340 million US dollars in the Mirage 2000-5 fighter jet fleet. In particular, spare parts for the engines and armament will be purchased in order to maintain combat readiness.

The orders totaling the equivalent of 340 million US dollars were awarded to the companies Safran and MBDA. Deliveries are scheduled to take place between mid-January 2024 and the end of 2028. The work is to take place at the military-used Hsinchu Airport, which is located on the island of Taiwan. The Mirage-2000-5, among others, are stationed at the airport mentioned.

The Republic of China (Taiwan) has recently felt threatened by the People's Republic of China, which does not recognize the island state but only sees it as a "renegade province". The Ministry of Defense is therefore now investing more in armaments. There are fears that one day there could be an attack by the army of the People's Republic of China.

The Mirage fighter jets that are now to be modernized were purchased in France in the 1990s. There are currently 54 operational units. Although these are considered to be outdated, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of China is of the opinion that, given the current situation, their services cannot be dispensed with. It is also pointed out that there would always be provocations in the form of air and sea violations by the armed forces of the People's Republic of China.

The differences between the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China have been going on for a very long time. Originally, the Republic of China was the state that also included the mainland. The island of Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule until the end of World War II. In the aftermath of the Second World War, a civil war broke out between the communists around Mao Zedong and the Kuomintang around Chiang Kai-shek. This went in favor of the communists in 1949, who then established the People's Republic of China on the mainland. Chiang Kai-shek and his comrades-in-arms retreated to the island of Taiwan. However, no democracy was established there, but rather a dictatorship that only became democratized in the 1990s.

A complicated situation for foreign airlines for years

Initially, the international community viewed the Republic of China, which also existed before World War II, as “the China.” As a result, the permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council was initially held by Taiwan. That changed over the years because this mandate then had to be handed over to the People's Republic of China. This pursues a one-China policy that is sometimes interpreted more strictly, sometimes less strictly.

The fact that both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China believe that their respective governments represent the whole of China had an impact on aviation. For many years, airlines that had Taipei on their routes were not allowed to land in the People's Republic of China. That's why some carriers, including Swissair and KLM, had their own Taiwan branches, which only served to circumvent the PRC ban. For many years, Condor flew to Taipei as a Lufthansa subsidiary in order not to endanger the parent company's PRC flights. This is now handled much more loosely – at least in aviation.

However, the diplomatic climate between the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China remains tense. In addition, the first-mentioned state is only officially recognized by a few countries, which is said to be due to strong pressure from the People's Republic of China, from which Taiwan feels threatened.