NO COMMENT FROM MND ON UAE MINI-SUBMARINE DEAL
ROC Central News Agency
2006-05-10 19:28:07
Taipei, May 10 (CNA) A spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) declined to comment Wednesday on a report that the government plans to purchase mini-submarines from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The spokesman was asked to comment during a closed-door meeting of the Defense Committee at the Legislative Yuan to review the lifting of a freeze on the ministry's budget for 2006.
Legislator Lin Yu-fang, a member of the legislative committee, said the Marines are planning to buy between eight and 12 two-seat craft that can be described as a kind of mini-submarine, from the UAE.
Lin claimed that this was the reason President Chen Shui-bian chose to make a stopover in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi on his way to and from a Latin America visit after he decided to bypass Anchorage offered by the United States to show his displeasure over the arrangement.
Deputy National Defense Minister Chu Kai-sheng has confirmed that the navy is currently working on a plan to buy the subs, according to Lin.
Lin said the main purpose of the mini-submarine is for penetration behind enemy lines for surprise attacks, which he claimed is a mindset of the 1950s. "Even North Korea has given up the idea of penetration of South Korea," Lin said, adding his personal opinion that such a craft could not be used in the current cross-Taiwan Strait situation.
He also said that the technical expertise required to build a mini-submarine is not high and that Taiwan's China Shipbuilding Corp. is more than capable of building them. "Taiwan has no need to buy the vehicles, " Lin claimed, adding that he "will oppose the possible deal to the end."
(By Lilian Wu)
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