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PREMIER APPEALS TO LAWMAKERS FOR EARLY PASSAGE OF ARMS BILL

ROC Central News Agency

2006-10-27 13:23:22

    Taipei, Oct. 27 (CNA) Premier Su Tseng-chang appealed to the legislature again on Friday for an early passage of a bill on the procurement of a major arms package from the United States, saying that five years has already passed since Taiwan placed the order with America.

    Su once again expressed his disapproval with the persistent obstruction of the bill by the opposition legislators, who hold a slight majority in the legislature.

    He repeated his appeal to the legislators for the passage of the arms procurement bill during the current legislative session, saying that while China has been rapidly building up its military, Taiwan's military capabilities have remained unchanged over the past five years.

    Su made the remarks after American Institute in Taiwan Director Stephen Young urged Taiwan's legislature Thursday to pass the bill on the procurement of major U.S. weapons systems during its current session. Young said that Taiwan might lose the opportunity to procure the weapons at all if the bill cannot be approved this autumn.

    After Young made the remarks, Taipei mayoral candidate James Soong, who quit the chairmanship of the opposition People First Party (PFP) to run in the mayoral election, criticized Young for demanding that Taiwan's legislature pass the bill within a certain time limit.

    Soong said the PFP and its "pan-blue alliance" ally, the Kuomintang (KMT), won a majority of legislative seats during the last election because the two parties were opposed to the military purchase. Claiming that "a reasonable budget for military purchases" remains the mainstream view in Taiwan, Soong said the PFP and the KMT must not "breach the people's trust in us."

    As to whether Young's remarks will make passage of the bill even more difficult due to his angering opposition lawmakers, Su said that the remarks can only provide another excuse for the opposition not to pass the bill.

    Meanwhile, Vice Premier Tsai Ing-wen noted that Young was just reiterating the U.S. government's stance concerning the arms procurement plan. Taiwan should make its own judgment on the issue, and all the people concerned in this country should ponder it in a rational manner, she added.

    For his part, Defense Minister Lee Jye said that Young made the remarks in a serious manner, which Lee said should make the Taiwan public seriously think about the meaning of his words.

    Disclosing that the Ministry of National Defense has felt pressure from the United States over the issue since half a year ago and has in turn pressed the legislature on the matter, Lee urged the pubic not to overreact to Young's remarks.

    Lee said that China has disclosed a timetable for actions to take Taiwan militarily and that according to the timetable, China will have acquired three aircraft carriers by 2020.

    He added that the last thing Taiwan would like to do is to engage in an arms race with China, but Taiwan should at least maintain an ability to defend itself.

(By Deborah Kuo)

ENDITEM/Li