TAIWAN MUST MAINTAIN PROPER DEFENSE CAPABILITIES: KMT
ROC Central News Agency
2005-04-30 18:14:38
Taipei, April 30 (CNA) Taiwan must maintain proper defense capabilities to ensure its security until the termination of cross-Taiwan Strait military confrontation, opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers said Saturday.
According to Cho Po-yuan, a whip of the KMT legislative caucus, the establishment of a cross-strait military confidence-building mechanism proposed by KMT Chairman Lien Chan during talks Friday with Communist Party of China General Secretary Hu Jintao in Beijing is a goal that the KMT hopes to achieve to reduce cross-strait hostility and halt the cross-strait arms race.
However, this does not mean Taiwan can stop all its arms procurement plans, Cho said.
Cho said the KMT will consult with the other parties to trim the NT$480 billion (US$15.19 billion) arms procurement package proposed by the Ministry of National Defense to make sure it fits the needs of Taiwan.
The package includes a squadron of 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft, six Patriot PAC-III anti-missile batteries and eight diesel-electric submarines from the United States.
KMT Legislator Shuai Hua-min, who is the former head of the National Defense Management College, said that while pursuing cross-strait peace, Taiwan needs to maintain sufficient defense capabilities to preserve its leverage to negotiate with China.
Shuai said it is necessary for the country to invest properly in arms procurement and to avoid any wasteful procurement items.
According to Shuai, Taiwan and China will have to exchange dialogue on the military issue sooner or later, depending on the cross-strait political atmosphere.
He said Taiwan's military deployment should be guided by the concept of "survival is victory" and that the governments on both sides of the strait should avoid any improper political manipulation to prevent military conflict.
(By Y.F. Low)
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