台灣如何免於自取滅亡? How to Save Taiwan from Itself

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蔡娪嫣 (translator), 台灣如何免於自取滅亡？美國前駐台軍事記者：華府須敲醒台灣精英的美夢，別等美軍來救. msn 新聞, Mar 20, 2019
https://www.msn.com/zh-tw/news/national/台灣如何免於自取滅亡？美國前駐台軍事記者華府須敲醒台灣精英的美夢，別等美軍來救/ar-BBV02PW?li=BBqj0iS

Is translated from

Wendell Minnick, How to Save Taiwan from Itself. Taipei's political elites no longer heed warnings from their own military. This is why Washington should care. National Interest, Mar 19, 2019.
https://nationalinterest.org/feature/how-save-taiwan-itself-48122

Quote:

"Taiwan’s military wants to procure big-ticket items from the United States, but at the same time it has been forced to reduce conscription and training due to funding issues and an apathetic civilian population.  Taiwan's Air Force just announced an official request from the United States for sixty-six F-16V fighter aircraft; the Army has secured the sale of M1 Abrams main battle tanks * * *

"The reduction to 215,000 was the result of the 2011–2014 Jing-cui streamlining program 精粹案, which was extended to 2015. Fortunately, the follow-up Yung-gu plan 勇固案 [broached in 2014] was canceled. It would have further reduced the number from 215,000 to 175,000 and eliminated conscription entirely, opting for an all-volunteer force.

"Taiwan first procured 150 F-16A/Bs in the 1990s * * * [Not until 2004 did US approve of selling] AIM-120 AMRAAM's [which stands for Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile] for its F-16s * * * the initial order [from Taiwan] was only for 200, then cut to 120. Critics complained Taiwan's military was the only one on the planet that would procure 120 bullets for 150 guns. The Air Force procured more over the years, 218 in 2007, but its reputation was badly damaged.  As a general rule, Taiwan has about one-third to one-half of the munitions it needs for two-days of aerial combat; it plans to place an emergency order with the United States when a war is on the horizon. In 1996, during the height of the Taiwan Strait Missile Crisis, emergency orders were sent to Washington for a wide array of missiles and bombs, but quickly canceled when the crisis ended.

Note:
(a) This is a lengthy report.
(b) In quotation 1, the sentence "the Army has secured the sale of M1 Abrams main battle tanks" is news to me. Indeed, there is no English-language news report on this, except one that was based on

軍方證實 美料將同意售我M1A2X戰車; 陸軍向美提出108輛M1A2X戰車軍購案，是美方外銷盟國最新型. 台灣英文新聞, Mar 17, 2019
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/ch/news/3660562
("本次我國有意採購最新的M1A2X，屬於最新裝備，然部分軟硬體裝備仍僅限美軍使用，不會出售")