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Too early to speculate on anti-piracy naval deployment: lawmaker

ROC Central News Agency

09/01/09 15:32:50

By Deborah Kuo

Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) It is too early for the administration to talk about dispatching naval frigates to the Gulf of Aden to protect Taiwanese ships from Somali pirates operating there, a ruling Kuomintang (KMT) legislator said Friday.

Legislator Shuai Hua-min said it is not about whether the navy is capable of protecting Taiwanese ships, but an issue pertaining to the international community's attitude toward or stance on Taiwan.

"An invitation for Taiwan to dispatch naval frigates to protect Taiwanese ships from pirates in the waters off Somalia would be welcomed, but it would be a major embarrassment if Taiwan's offer to do so were to be rejected," said Shuai.

"Officials from the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) should keep quiet if they are making plans on the matter, " Shuai contended.

Opposition Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Huang-liang said he would give President Ma Ying-jeou the thumbs up if he "dares" to order the dispatch of frigates to the Gulf of Aden.

Hinting that since the probability of this move is rather slim, Tsai said he hopes the MAC statement was not just a "pseudo-issue" aimed at diverting the public's focus of attention from the predicament that the KMT administration is facing in running the country.

"The greatest obstruction to any Taiwanese plan to send frigates to the Gulf of Aden will be Beijing, " Tsai said, adding that the matter could well serve to test Chinese President Hu Jintao's sincerity when he made a six-point overture to Taiwan Dec. 31 on the peaceful development of cross-strait ties.

Meanwhile, KMT Legislator Yang Chiung-ying said a deployment of naval frigates would be the right decision.

MAC Vice Chairman Chao Chien-min said recently that relevant administrative agencies have been discussing whether and how naval vessels should be dispatched to the region, but he declined to elaborate on when such a deployment could be expected.

China has sent naval ships to the Gulf of Aden, with the approval of the United Nations Security Council and Somalia's transitional government, in response to a recent surge in the number of pirate attacks on vessels plying the crucial shipping route.

Last year alone, there were over 100 pirate attacks on vessels in the region, pushing up the insurance costs of shipping companies and bringing the pirates tens of millions of dollars in ransom payments.