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OPPOSITION MILITARY FINANCE PLAN WOULD SET BACK MILITARY 10 YEARS: MND

ROC Central News Agency

2005-10-11 23:18:27

    Taipei, Oct. 11 (CNA) The ROC military's development will be set back 10 years if the opposition has its way and lumps all items in the U.S. defense purchase into the ministry's regular budget, the defense ministry said Tuesday.

    Hours after the opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan rejected a motion to review the special budget of NT$340 billion (US$10.23 billion) for the arms package for the 33rd time, the ministry said the weaponry in question is vital to boosting the country's defense capabilities, and that this is only a part of the ministry's efforts to strengthen the nation's defense.

    The U.S. package refers to the purchase of 12 anti-submarine aircraft, eight submarines and six patriotic PAC-3 batteries.

    Other hardware, such as search and surveillance radar, Kidd-class guided missile destroyers, and Clouded Leopard armored vehicles, should be acquired simultaneously for the effective defense of the country, the ministry said in a statement.

    If all three major items in the U.S. package are financed from the ministry's regular budget, as requested by the opposition parties in the legislature, the other arms procurement programs would have to be put on the back burner for at least 10 years and would expose the country to China's military threat for quite a long time, the statement said.

    China's military threat against Taiwan consists mainly of its missiles and jet fighters, the statement said, adding that Beijing has deployed in southeastern China more than 700 missiles within the range of the whole of Taiwan.

    Also, the ministry said, Beijing has about 120 jet fighters stationed in its coastal provinces across Taiwan, and another 660 jet fighters in provinces in central China, all within striking range of Taiwan.

    Patriot missiles proved to be an effective anti-missile weapon in the Iraq War, and can help shelter Taiwan from Beijing's missiles; but its price, NT$130 billion, is simply too much to be incorporated into the regular defense budget, the statement said.

    Citing the country's purchase of 150 F-16 jet fighters from the United States and 60 Mirage jet fighters from the French in 1992, the ministry said the huge outlays for them were financed by a special budget over nine years.

    In order to complying with the opposition's request, the ministry has included the Patriot missiles in its regular budget while leaving the other two items in a NT$340 billion special budget.

    But its efforts have failed to soften the opposition's objections. They have refused to budge in their opposition to the special budget, and do not agree with the Patriot missiles in the regular budget on the grounds that this was already rejected by the public in a 2004 referendum, a claim the Executive Yuan denies.

(By Maubo Chang)

ENDITEM/mw