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Taiwan has set aside funds for arms procurement: president

ROC Central News Agency

2011/06/22 22:51:43

By Kelvin Huang and Sofia Wu

Taipei, June 22 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou said Wednesday his administration had allocated a budget for the procurement of weapons Taiwan needs to protect its national security.

"Once the U.S. government agrees to sell us F-16 C/D jet fighters, we can immediately use the funds to foot the bill," Ma said in a meeting at the Presidential Office with Richard Bush, director of the Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution.

Since Taiwan first proposed in 2002 to purchase F-16 C/Ds to upgrade its air arsenal, the government has raised funds to finance the deal, Ma stressed, adding that he hoped the United States would make a decision as soon as possible.

Ma further said the advanced fighter procurement plan was aimed at replacing Taiwan's aging fleet and that the new jets would be purely for defensive purposes.

On Taiwan's defense spending, Ma said that before he took office he had advocated that the defense budget should be at least 3 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

Since taking office, Ma said, he has been working hard to attain that goal, which was left unrealized by the former Democratic Progressive Party administration.

"In 2009, we did not attain such a ratio because of a worldwide economic recession that affected our GDP growth. Last year, our GDP grew by 10.88 percent year-on-year. Due to this largely increased comparison basis, we again failed to realize the goal... but the defense budget can truly be increased from the previous year," Ma told his guest.

Touching on Taiwan's plan to implement an all-volunteer military recruitment system, Ma said that despite the financial straits, his administration will do whatever it can to implement the plan.

"It's not a blind pursuit. As evidenced in the U.S., an all-volunteer military system is very costly, but it is worth it in consideration of the higher morale among service members and better combat skills," Ma said.

On relations across the Taiwan Strait, Ma said both Taiwan and China are cautiously promoting engagement in a steady and stable manner.

"We are talking about signing an investment protection agreement and mechanisms to resolve disputes and cooperate on nuclear power safety," Ma said.

The new free independent traveler (FIT) program to allow Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan independently is expected to help bring about more business opportunities for Taiwan's tourism sector, he said.

Noting that significant progress had been made in cross-strait cooperation in fighting crime under a judicial assistance pact, Ma said Taiwan hoped to sign an extradition accord with the U.S. to pave the way for repatriation of fugitive Taiwanese criminals in the U.S. to stand trial in Taiwan.