KMT CHIEF DENIES RECEIVING U.S. CONGRESSMEN'S LETTER ON ARMS SALES
Central News Agency
2005-05-27 22:00:59
Taipei, May 27 (CNA) Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan denied Friday that he ever received a letter signed by 33 U.S. Congressmen calling on his party to support a NT$480 billion (US$15.33 billion) arms purchase from the U.S.
The KMT chief said "no" to questions shouted at him by journalists about wether he had received the alleged letter.
Ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Trong Chai made public a letter purported to be authored by 33 U.S. Congressmen to Lien at the Legislative Yuan earlier in the day, saying that the U.S. Congressmen urged Lien's party to support the arms purchase.
KMT spokeswomen Cheng Li-wen said later that Lien has never received such a letter, adding that the KMT's stance on the arms purchase is very clear; namely, it is in favor of reasonable defense spending but will not allow the country to be bilked by foreign arms sellers.
She said that is was the DPP's business if it wants to debase itself into being a broker for the U.S. arms, but it would be wrong to think that the KMT will collude with it to fleece the taxpayers. "As an accountable political party, we are responsible for the people of this country, not people of any other countries." she went on.
Chang Jung-kung, chief of the KMT's Cultural and Communication Committee, said the party would neither bow to U.S. pressure nor play into the hands of the DPP and change its position on the issue.
The arms purchase has been bogged down in the opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan because the opposition claims that the price is inflated and the budget for the purchase was "inappropriately" prepared as a special budget, which would be outside the limitations on government loans.
(By Maubo Chang)
ENDITEM/mw
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