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DEFENSE IMPORTANT, BUT WITHIN REASONABLE ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK: KMT

Central News Agency

2005-07-13 22:25:54

    Taipei, July 13 (CNA) Maintaining adequate national defense is important, but Taiwan has to consider its financial burden and economic situation before deciding whether to buy large amounts of weapons from the United States, the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) said Wednesday.

    As an independent, sovereign state, the Republic of China government must take these factors into account and the United States is not in a position to tell Taiwan what to do, Lai Shyh-bao, a KMT legislative whip, said at a news conference.

    If the United States really thinks that a 15-year major military procurement plan that it hopes Taiwan accepts is so critical to security in the Asia-Pacific region, it should push the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to list the budget allocation in regular annual budgets plans instead of putting it in an extra budget and offering Taiwan reduced prices, Lai argued.

    The KMT fully supports Taiwan having a sufficient defense capability and the party is not opposed to a proposal to increase the country's military spending to meet its needs, but Taiwan has to weigh its own conditions and the United States has no say over the issue, he said, adding that the KMT insists that the major arms procurement budget be digested in annual budgets.

    Lai made the remarks after Randall Schriver, a former U. S. deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, said earlier the same day prior to his departure at the end of a four-day visit to Taiwan that Taiwan might "have to pay a price" if it "fails to jump at the chance" to make a decision on acquiring weapons from the United States.

    The major military procurement bill failed to clear the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan since the middle of last year due to its high price tag of US$480 million (US$15 billion) for eight diesel-electric submarines, six Patriot PAC III anti-missile batteries and a squadron of 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft.

    Chen Chi-pin, a legislative caucus whip of the People First Party (PFP) , echoed Lai's comments by saying that his party also insists that the budget for the major arms purchase plan be listed in annual budgets.

    Furthermore, Chen pointed out, the government is not allowed to buy the anti-missile equipment already disapproved in a public referendum that was held alongside last year's presidential election.

    Chen urged the United States to respect Taiwan's democratic mechanisms and called on Taiwan's political parties to gauge the issue in Taiwan's own interests instead of in the interests of the United States.

    Chang Hsien-yao, head of the PFP Policy Center, said that military equipment is not the key to Taiwan's self-defense.

    The problem resides in the different stances of the opposition and the ruling camps over Taiwan's future course, Chang said, blaming the ruling DPP for the procrastination of the major military procurement bill at the Legislative Yuan.

    The DPP has been very awkward in negotiating with the opposition parties over the issue, and it is wrong to list the spending in a special budget, he said, adding that the PFP cannot give way to such a military procurement bill, whose decision-making process regarding the weapons' items and prices was totally opaque to the opposition parties.

    The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), which cooperates with the DPP in most issues due to their similar pro-independence mindset, asked the DPP to take the initiative to exchange views rationally with the KMT and the PFP, while the two parties also should help the bill clear the legislature as quickly as possible.

    TSU Secretary-General Cheng Cheng-lung told reporters that the major arms deal in conjunction with the United States could be traced back to the days when the KMT was Taiwan's ruling party and called for swift legislative approval of the bill because further postponement could hurt Taiwan.

    The TSU backs the idea of making the bill the top issue on the agenda in the next legislative session or an extraordinary summer session if possible, Cheng said.

    Meanwhile, DPP legislative whip William C. T. Lai was reserved about a proposal to increase the country's military budgets every year out of grave concern that doing so would just crowd out spending in other fields.

    He also criticized the KMT and the PFP for their stonewalling of the bill, saying that their cool response will mislead the United States over Taiwan's security.

(By Flor Wang)

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