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MOST LAWMAKERS SUPPORT ARMS PROCUREMENT: DEFENSE MINISTER

ROC Central News Agency

2006-12-29 12:50:53

    Taipei, Dec. 29 (CNA) Most of the country's legislators support arms procurement to beef up Taiwan's self-defense and agree that national security is the ultimate consideration, Defense Minister Lee Jye said Friday.

    Opposition lawmakers have blocked a bill on an arms procurement package that has been blocked by the opposition-controlled legislature some 70 times since it was first submitted for legislative review in mid-2004 for reasons other than being against arms procurement, Lee claimed.

    A draft bill governing major defensive investment and a supplemental budget have finally been put on the legislative agenda, for this Friday.

    Friday's legislative session will determine whether the NT$6.3 billion (US$193.8 million) supplemental budget, which would provide initial funding for the purchase of weapons from the United States, will be referred for an initial review as suggested by the procedure committee Tuesday.

    Lee said he has visited the legislative caucuses of all the major parties recently and has found that most of the legislators agree with the Ministry of National Defense's stance that national security should be the top consideration.

    Lee said he has always had confidence that the bill will be passed, believing that the legislators will eventually follow the "people's will." A recent public opinion poll indicated that about 70 percent of the Taiwan people agree that the bill should be reviewed by legislature.

    The position of the opposition People First Party -- which has remained opposed to the arms procurement bill whose initial price tag was NT$610.8 billion -- is likely to determine the course of Friday's session.

    The arms package includes eight diesel-electric submarines, a squadron of 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft and six Patriot PAC III anti-missile batteries from the United States. The budget was slashed from NT$610.8 billion to NT$480 billion last year to placate the opposition lawmakers. It was further reduced to NT$340 billion to only cover the purchase of the submarines and the sub-hunting aircraft.

    The supplemental budget of NT$6.3 billion includes NT$200 million for a submarine feasibility assessment, NT$1.7 billion for the P-3Cs in the first year, NT$3.7 billion for the upgrading of the Patriot II missiles, and NT$700 million for building an airstrip on Taiping Island in the Spratlys.

(By Deborah Kuo)

ENDITEM/Li