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BUDGET FOR BUYING ANTI-SUB PLANES, SUBMARINES PASSED

ROC Central News Agency

2006-11-01 17:38:53

    Taipei, Nov. 1 (CNA) The legislature's defense committee rejected or cut most of the government's requests for defense spending Wednesday but agreed to refer proposed budgets for buying submarines and anti-submarine aircraft to a plenary session.

    The committee decision to veto NT$4.20 (US$127,000) million in "procurement operation fees" for Patriot-III anti-missile batteries but to retain NT$37.06 million for submarines and NT$2.48 million for anti-submarine aircraft marked the first "positive" step toward acquiring two of the three major weapon systems that the government has long proposed buying.

    The defense committee decision came after the procedure committee blocked Tuesday, for the 62nd time, a military procurement package from being put on the legislative agenda as a result of opposition from the Kuomintang (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP).

    The defense committee debated the government's 2007 defense budget, which included more than NT$20 million in "advance operation fees" for procuring F-16 CD fighters and NT$8.1 billion in fuel costs. The budget for procuring F-16CD fighters was cut to a mere NT$1,000.

    PFP Legislator Chao Liang-yen said the 2004 referendum vetoed the government's bid to upgrade defense capability by installing anti-missile batteries, so the requested budget must be vetoed. She suggested that the budget for all of the three weapons be denied.

    But KMT lawmaker Su Chi said adding anti-submarine aircraft to the armed forces meets the country's defense needs, although he said more studies have to be done on the submarine procurement program. Lin Yu-fang, also of the KMT, agreed that the anti-sub aircraft budget should be referred to a plenary session.

    The committee then resolved to refer the budget for anti-aircraft planes and submarines to a legislative plenary session, which means consultations or negotiations will be held among political parties' legislative caucus leaders before putting it to a vote by the legislature.

(By S.C. Chang)

ENDITEM/J