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LEASING P-3C ANTI-SUB PLANES FROM U.S. IS AN OPTION: DEFENSE MINISTER

Central News Agency

2005-05-02 15:21:52

    Taipei, May 2 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense is negotiating with the United States on the feasibility of leasing P-3C Orion anti-submarine aircraft, Minister of National Defense Lee Jya said Monday.

    Lee made the remarks at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's Defense Committee where independent Legislator Li Ao said the government should consider leasing instead of procuring advanced weapons from the United States. Li was referring to the defense ministry's massive arms procurement package, which includes eight diesel-electric submarines, six PAC III Patriot anti-missile batteries and a squadron of 12 P-3C anti- submarine aircraft.

    For the military, Lee said, it is only appropriate to lease items of a similar nature to what it already possesses. Only the P-3C meets this requirement, he said.

    Lee said the defense ministry has discussed the possibility of leasing P-3C anti-submarine aircraft with U.S. authorities. "In the course of discussions, U.S. officials have asked why Taiwan would rather lease than procure the sophisticated aircraft since Taiwan is not a poor country and has a large stash of foreign exchange reserves," Lee said, adding that the United States hopes to see Taiwan buy, not lease, the P-3Cs.

    While political negotiations can be conducted in a slow manner to see whether the general situation or atmosphere can turn in Taiwan's favor, Lee said combat preparedness is something that the military cannot drag its feet on. "We need military strength to back up our negotiations with the other side of the Taiwan Strait. The long-planned three-item arms procurement package will by no means be affected by the two opposition leaders' visits to the Chinese mainland, " Lee said, adding that he hopes the legislature can approved the budget bill for the package as early as possible.

    Lee was referring to opposition Kuomintang Chairman Lien Chan's April 26 to May 3 China visit and opposition People First Party Chairman James Soong's upcoming May 5-12 China visit.

    The opposition-controlled legislature has stonewalled the passage of the arms procurement package for more than a year.

(By Sofia Wu)

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