Tue, Sep 21, 2004 page2

• Arms purchase opponents petition, plan protest action

  • By Ko Shu-ling / STAFF REPORTER WITH CNA
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  Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said yesterday that it will not be easy for the legislature to pass the budget for a large arms purchase in October.

  Wang made the remarks as the Legislative Yuan prepares to review a proposal by the Executive Yuan for a NT$610.8 billion (US$18 billion) budget to buy US arms.

  Wang said that the ruling and opposition parties should first consult on a special statute regarding the arms purchase before they review the budget for the purchase.

  Judging from that, he said, "It will be difficult for the arms purchase budget to clear the legislature in October."

  Even as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) demanded that the arms purchase bill be passed prior to the year-end legislative elections, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) adopted a defensive posture making use of their majority in the legislature to demand massive cuts in the cost of submarines included in the arms package.

  Wang earlier has said that NT$150 billion should be cut from the budget, while the PFP has demanded a cut of at least NT$180 billion.

  While not totally opposed to the submarine purchase, the KMT and PFP legislators demand a "reasonable" price for the purchase, and have stated objections to the prior incorporation of the sale into the budget, as requested by the US.

  Meanwhile, eleven Academia Sinica research fellows have signed a petition against the arms purchase plan.

  In a statement made Sunday called "Know Taiwan, a Warning to Avert Disaster," the academics said that the nation was descending into authoritarianism, ethnic conflict, an escalation of cross-strait tensions and a spiraling arms buildup. They called on the public to counter these trends, saying that rejecting the arms purchase bill would be a first major step in the right direction.

  The petition was written by Lao Sze-kwang (勞思光), who is overseas and had to cancel his plan to appear at Sunday's event due to health problems. A total of eight of the 11 signatories are not in the country.

  The petitioners stated that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) lied when he said the arms bill would not affect other budgetary allocations for such things as education and social welfare.

  They said the NT$610.8 billion arms budget was a huge financial burden on the country, and that it would lead to demands for further arms purchases. They ar-gued that even if the nation emptied its coffers to buy arms, this would not scare off its enemies, but simply cause them to further build up their military strength in response.

  The petitioners also said that this military buildup would in no way reduce the chance of conflict.

  On Sept. 25, the Democratic Action Alliance and the Anti-Arms Purchasing Alliance (6108反軍購大聯盟) will stage a rally and concert, calling on the government to use the money to improve transportation, education and social welfare instead of for the arms purchase.

  Anti-Arms Purchasing Alliance convenor Chang Ya-chung (張亞中), said that while the government is selling land, issuing bonds and using other methods to raise money for the purchase, many people in Taiwan are still suffering the effects of recent storm and flood damage or are unable to pay school fees, feed their children and pay their mortgages.

  Responding to the Academia Sinica researchers' petition, Cabinet Spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) yesterday called on the public to consider the military imbalance across the Taiwan Strait and the importance of self-defense in the face of China's military intimidation.

  "The government's arms procurement plan is not aimed at military competition but at effective intimidation and national security," Chen said. "We'd like to remind the public not to embrace quixotic thinking about China and think that it would minimize its military threat."

  The US-China Commission's annual report to the US Congress found that China's official budget allocation for weapons procurement showed an approximately 1,000 percent increase over a 12-year period, far outpacing China's rapid growth in GDP.

  Although the officially announced Chinese arms budget this year is more than US$25 billion, the report said that the budget is grossly underreported, estimating it at between US$50 billion to US$70 billion, ranking China third in military spending after the US and Russia.

  As the Chinese government is drafting a unification law, Chen said that Beijing's cross-strait policy is expected to shift from "no Taiwan independence, no military assault" to "no unification, no peace."

  "Despite China's bloodless transfer of power of its highest military chief yesterday, Beijing is still reluctant to talk with us," Chen said.
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