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MND to publish China's military movement prior to major elections

ROC Central News Agency

2007-11-26 20:48:16

    Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) Minister of National Defense Lee Tien-yu promised Monday that the ministry will publish weekly reports about the latest military movement of China one month prior to two major elections next year.

    Lee also said that the number of servicemen who will be prevented from leaving their posts to vote in the upcoming elections will be far less than the nearly 40,000 in the 2004 presidential election.

    He made the remarks while reporting at the Legislative Yuan's defense committee on a plan for military personnel to leave their posts to vote as well as on combat readiness regulations in the run-up to the Jan. 12 legislative and March 22 presidential elections.

    Legislator Shuai Hua-ming of the main opposition Kuomintang said that between March and May in 2008, the danger posed to Taiwan because of the turbulence resulting from the two major elections could be as great as the missile crisis in 1996 when China lobbed missiles into waters near Taiwan in the run-up to the island's first-ever popular presidential election.

    In the March 22 presidential election, voters will also be asked to vote on a referendum sure to upset China -- that of whether Taiwan should seek membership in the United Nations under the name Taiwan, rather than Republic of China, as it has done in the past. The president-elect is set to assume office on May 20, 2008.

    To avoid the necessity of announcing martial law because of cross-strait tensions, the ministry should publish every week China's military movement one month prior to the two major elections, Shuai said.

    The military also should not randomly increase the number of servicemen on combat readiness other than stipulated, or raise the number of military vessels on standby, Shuai added.

    Lee said the military has finalized its leave of absence schedule for servicemen and regulations on combat readiness so that the voting rights of servicemen will not be affected.

    In response, Lee said that the number of military servicemen who couldn't vote because they couldn't leave their posts totaled 37,000 in the 2004 presidential election, but the number affected will be "far below that number" in the 2008 elections.

    On the same occasion, Lee said that President Chen Shui-bian has not mentioned to him about imposing martial law, after implying Sunday that he would consider it as an option to diffuse tension over voting format.

    Fielding questions by opposition legislators on whether the scenario of "martial law" was included in a simulated military exercise earlier this year, Lee said the scenario was not included.

    He also said that martial law shouldn't be put into practice unless there is "internal chaos" or a "foreign invasion."

    Lee's remarks came one day after President Chen said during a campaign rally for a legislative candidate of the ruling party in Taipei county that he is carefully considering various options, including martial law, to resolve the disputes over voting format.

    However, the president dismissed Monday the possibility of imposing martial law to end the standoff between the central and some local governments on the voting format for the legislative elections and two referendums to be held alongside.

(By Lilian Wu)

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