KMT LAWMAKER CALLS FOR TRANSPORT LINKS IN EXCHANGE FOR ARMS DEAL
ROC Central News Agency
2006-02-08 17:09:05
Taipei, Feb. 8 (CNA) Main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Ting Shou-chung proposed Wednesday that the government open direct transport links with China in exchange for legislative approval of a major arms procurement bill.
Speaking at a news conference he called at the Legislative Yuan, Ting urged the government of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to accept his proposal to help break the current gridlock in the legislature and assure peace and prosperity in the Taiwan Strait.
Should the government be willing to set up direct cross-strait transport links, the KMT would be willing to help push for the arms purchase bill's passage through the Legislative Yuan, Ting said.
He asked the government not to oppose the links and to list the spending for acquiring the weapons on the procurement list from the United States in the government's regular annual budget at 3 percent of Taiwan's gross domestic product.
Pointing out that recent statements by President Chen Shui-bian have tilted toward promoting "hasty Taiwan independence, " Ting argued that the bill's passage in exchange for the links should help the public realize that the arms procurement package does not signal an endorsement for "hasty Taiwan independence." Doing so would also bolster cross-strait activities, which is a keen hope of the United States, he added.
The weapons purchase package is in the interests of both Taiwan and the United States, while direct transport services would serve both Taiwan and China, and seeking stability and stepping up exchanges across the strait is the common ground between China and the United States, all of which indicates that cross-strait peace and prosperity is in the interests of all three sides, he said.
Hsieh Kung-ping, spokesman for the People First Party (PFP) -- a KMT partner in the opposition "pan blue alliance " -- said later the same day, however, that there is no need for the opposition to rush the major arms procurement bill through the Legislative Yuan, since related situations at home and abroad remain unclear.
As Chinese President Hu Jintao is slated to visit U.S. President George W. Bush in April and Premier Su Tseng-chang has yet to respond to a "pan blue" demand that he state the government's stance on the issue, Hsieh commented that "pan blue alliance" should carefully gauge the timing of when to deal with the bill.
Hsieh reiterated that the PFP is not opposed to what it considers a reasonable military procurement package and is open to holding talks with other parties on the issue. But he added that it would prefer to discuss the issue after Su has given his report detailing policy priorities and budget allocations of his cabinet and after Hu and Bush have met.
Hsieh further said that the PFP does not favor Ting's idea of linking the military procurement to the cross-strait transport issue, because doing so will only complicate both matters.
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou has said publicly that his party will put forward its own version of the major arms procurement package by the end of this month or in early March, in the hope of forging common ground with the DPP on the issue.
The United States has repeatedly urged Taiwan to quickly settle the issue to beef up its national defense network amid China's growing military expansion.
But the bill has failed to clear the Legislative Yuan 45 times since mid-2004 due to objections from "pan blue" lawmakers who claim that the arms procurement package proposed by the Ministry of National Defense is too spendthrift for what the opposition claims are "obsolete" items -- eight diesel-electric submarines, six Patriot PAC III anti-missile batteries and 12 P-3C anti-submarine planes.
(By Flor Wang)
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