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KMT ONLY SUPPORTS NT$6.3 BILLION ARMS BUDGET: PARTY CHIEF

ROC Central News Agency

2006-10-30 18:51:03

    Taipei, Oct. 30 (CNA) Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou reiterated Monday that the KMT's stance on supporting the passage of a NT$6.3 billion supplementary budget to beef up the country's defense capacity remains unchanged.

    Ma said the KMT legislative caucus will review the NT$6.3 billion supplementary budget -- covering NT$200 million for a submarine feasibility assessment, NT$1.7 billion for P-3C anti-submarine aircraft in the first year, NT$3.7 billion for the upgrading of Patriot II missiles, and NT$700 million for building an airstrip on Taiping Island in the Spratly archipelago -- which is expected to be put on the agenda of the Legislative Yuan Procedure Committee for debate Tuesday.

    Ma's remarks scotched rumors that the KMT and its ally, the opposition People First Party, will move to have the NT$6.3 billion budget plan shelved in Tuesday's procedure.

    Meanwhile, Tsai Chin-lung, a party whip of the KMT legislative caucus, said the KMT has resolutely opposed the original NT$610.8 billion special budget proposal for the arms purchases from the United States drawn up in 2004, but that its determination to support "rational and pragmatic" arms procurements remains unchanged.

    In related news, Ma, who doubles as Taipei mayor, denied that he had instigated the awarding of a utilization license to a Taipei Water Department (TWD) building that has been under construction for three years so that he can use it as the location for a "Ma Ying-jeou Institute" that he plans to found.

    Ruling Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chuang-Chin and Taipei City Councilor Chou Wei-you charged in a news conference Monday that Ma has taken steps to enable the shabbily built TWD building to be inaugurated despite construction flaws and defects so that he can have a place to help realize his ambition to establish his own institute like one founded by former President Lee Teng-hui.

(By Deborah Kuo)

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