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MILITARY STREAMLINING CONTINUING: NATIONAL SECURITY REPORT

ROC Central News Agency

2006-05-20 18:45:06

    Taipei, May 20 (CNA) So long as the situation across the Taiwan Strait remains stable, the Republic of China military will continue with its ongoing streamlining plan, which will see the number of troops cut by 100,000 by 2008, according to a National Security Council report published Saturday by the Presidential Office.

    From 2008, the government will also reduce the period of compulsory military service to just one year, the report said, adding that all these measures are aimed at displaying Taiwan's resolve and good faith in preserving cross-strait peace.

    The government will also seek international support to open peace dialogue with China because the possibility of military conflict still exists across the strait, the report said.

    Taiwan also promises not to develop or use weapons of mass destruction, including biochemical weapons, and urges Beijing to make the same pledge in public, the report continued.

    A "buffer zone" should be set up in the strait, with ships and aircraft from either side banned from entering the zone, it said.

    Citing the U.S.-U.S.S.R Maritime Matter-Incidents at Sea Agreement in 1972 and the U.S.-PRC Military Maritime Consultative agreement as examples, the report proposed the establishment of a similar mechanism between the two sides of the strait and the setting up of "military hot lines" to prevent any crises in the region.

(By Flor Wang)

ENDITEM/Li