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CABINET APPROVES SUPPLEMENTARY BUDGET FOR ARMS PROCUREMENT

ROC Central News Agency

2006-05-24 19:23:39

    Taipei, May 24 (CNA) The Executive Yuan approved a supplementary budget plan of NT$6.2 billion (US$193.6 million) for the planned procurement of a package of arms from the United States and for a plan to build a simple airport on an island in the South China Sea, Cabinet spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang said Wednesday.

    Cheng said at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting that NT$200 million of the budget will be used to evaluate the purchase of submarines from the United States, while the rest will be used to fund the upgrading of Patriot PAC-II anti-missile batteries and P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft and the construction of an airport on Taiping island.

    The budget plan, put forward by the Ministry of National Defense (MND), will be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation in a few days, Cheng said. He also called on the legislature to approve the MND-proposed arms procurement bill as soon as possible.

    According to Cheng, the package was worked out after a long-term professional assessment of defense needs by government agencies.

    Touching on the planned construction of an airport on Taiping island, one of the biggest islets of the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea, Cheng said the required budget for the project was listed at the legislature's request.

    The plan to build the airport has been proposed by the Coast Guard Administration and the Ministry of National Defense will assist by sending soldiers there to carry out the construction work. It will only be equipped with simple facilities, including a 1,150-meter runway and a control tower.

    The planned airport will only be capable of handling the takeoff and landing of C130 aircraft, and not other military aircraft, fighters or anti-submarine aircraft, so it will not pose any military threat to the surrounding islets, according to MND officials.

    The Spratly Islands, which consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs surrounded by rich fishing grounds and oil deposits, are claimed either entirely or partially by Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.

    Taiwan, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam have stationed small numbers of military forces on some of the islands.

(By Luis Huang)

ENDITEM/J