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U.S. OFFICIAL CALLS ON LEGISLATURE SPEAKER OVER ARMS PURCHASE BUDGET

Central News Agency

2005-07-21 21:10:12

    Taipei, July 21 (CNA) Douglas Paal, chief of the American Institute in Taiwan, paid a call on Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng Thursday over the legislature's handling of the government's request for a special budget of NT$480 billion to buy a package of U.S. arms.

    Wang said afterward that Paal is "concerned about Taiwan's determination and ability to defend itself" -- a euphemism for Washington's impatience with the opposition-controlled legislature, which has repeatedly turned down the government's request to act on the budget bill.

    The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is calling for a special legislative session to deal with the budget, as well as some other bills considered urgent by the DPP government.

    As speaker of the legislature, Wang will call a meeting of leaders of the various parties at the Legislative Yuan July 25 to discuss the DPP's request for the extraordinary session.

    Wang said he told Paal that the budget bill has no chance of being approved for the time being if there is no consensus among the parties for a special session.

    Paal's call came one day after Washington released its annual report on Chinese military capability in which the United States warned that the military balance across the Taiwan Strait is continuously tilting in China's favor.

    Meanwhile, a lawmaker of the People First Party (PFP), one of the opposition parties in the legislature that has blocked the arms purchase and has denied the necessity of an extraordinary legislative session, said his party has not changed its stance.

    Legislator Lee Hung-chun said PFP Chairman James Soong, who is on vacation in the United States, is firm in his opposition to the arms purchase because he claims the price is "unreasonable."

    Lee said the PFP, which commands 34 seats in the 225-member legislature, cannot support the budget bill until it is convinced the country is not being cheated by the United States in the deal and until the budget is prepared as part of the government's regular budget rather than a special budget, which is exempt from limitations on the amount of loans the government can raise.

    Also, the lawmaker said, the PFP will not resume contact with the DPP unless President Chen Shui-bian, who used to be the DPP chairman, apologizes for accusing Soong of meeting secretly with a Chinese senior official in the United States in February, a meeting that Soong denies took place.

    Without the PFP's assent, the prospects for a special legislative session are dim, according to local political analysts.

(By Maubo Chang)

ENDITEM/J