Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

TAIWAN BOUGHT US$1.1 B. WORTH OF CONVENTIONAL ARMS LAST YEAR

ROC Central News Agency

2005-08-31 16:59:11

    Washington, Aug. 30 (CNA) Taiwan imported US$1.1 billion-worth of conventional arms in 2004, ranking seventh among the developing nations, while China imported US$2.7 billion-worth, or third in value, according to a newly released United States Congress report.

    The Congressional Research Service's "Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1997-2004" report shows that in 2004, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) led the pack of developing nations by importing US$3.6 billion-worth of conventional arms, surpassing Saudi Arabia, which imported arms worth US$3.2 billion.

    China was the third-largest importer of conventional arms last year, paying US$2.7 billion, followed by India (US$1.7 billion) , Egypt (US$1.7 billion) , Israel (US$1.5 billion) , Taiwan (US$ 1.1 billion), Pakistan (US$0.9 billion), South Korea (US$0.8 billion) and South Africa (US$0.5 billion).

    During the 1997-2000 period, the report says, Taiwan imported US$7.3 billion-worth of conventional arms, next only to Saudi Arabia's US$35.7 billion among the developing nations and ahead of South Korea's US$5.1 billion.

    They were followed by Israel (US$5 billion) , UAE (US$4.8 billion) , China (US$4.2 billion) , Egypt (US$3.8 billion), Kuwait (US$2.9 billion) , Pakistan (US$2.8 billion) and India (US$2.2 billion).

    For the period of 2001-2004, Taiwan's imports of conventional arms dropped to the sixth in ranking at a value of US$3.9 billion, contrasted with China's US$8.8 billion, which was second only to Saudi Arabia that took delivery of US$19 billion-worth of arms.

    During those four years, UAE was the third-largest importer of conventional arms at a value of US$6.8 billion, followed by India (US$6. billion), Egypt (US$5.9 billion) , Taiwan (US$3.9 billion) , Israel (US$3.4 billion) , South Korea (US$2.6 billion) , Pakistan (US$2.4 billion) and Malaysia (US$1.4 billion).

    For the period of 1997-2004, Saudi Arabia was the No. 1 importer of conventional arms with a value of US$54.7 billion, with China ranked second with US$13. billion and UAE ranked third with US$11.6 billion.

    They were followed by Taiwan (US$11.2 billion) , Egypt (US$9.7 billion), Israel (US$8.4 billion), India (US$8.2 billion), Pakistan (US$8.2 billion) , South Korea (US$7.7 billion) and Malaysia (US$3 billion).

(By Oliver Lin & S.C. Chang)

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