Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday urged Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to persuade his fellow pan-blue lawmakers to support and approve the arms purchase plan from the US.
"I believe he [Ma] also realizes the importance of this proposal. I hope the pan-blue camp will stop boycotting this proposal and taking advantage of it as a political bargaining chip," Su said when approached by the press for comment.
"There is no free national defense. We have to pay something," the premier said.
Su said that to approve the arms procurement as soon as possible is the only way to maintain the nation's security at this point in time because the US is now the only country willing to sell weapons to Taiwan.
"I think he [American Institute in Taiwan Director Stephen Young] made the point," Su said. "This is a great chance for us to strengthen our own power and defend ourselves. We should not miss it."
The US is not only the country which would sell weapons to Taiwan but also the only country which would dare to challenge China by helping Taiwan maintain peace over the Taiwan Strait, he said.
"However, we must know that politics changes fast. If this deal does not work out, no one can guarantee that future American political leaders will continue to support Taiwan for future procurement deals, or whether future US presidents will be willing to help," he said. "Defending Taiwan is more important than anything. It cannot wait."
At a separate venue yesterday, Ma, on the other hand, urged the governing and opposition parties to calm down and think before acting on the country's arms purchase plan from the US.
The last thing the parties should do is "hook the arms procurement bill together with domestic political conflict," Ma said while answering media inquiries.
Ma explained that the KMT and its political ally, the People First Party (PFP), agree that there must be a "reasonable budget" for the arms package.
The opposition claims that the package is grossly overpriced and have prevented it being tabled in the legislature's defense committee more then 50 times.
Ma said it is important for Taiwan to maintain a strong national defense.
"Do not think the country doesn't need any arms purchases only because the US representative to Taiwan has said something," he added.
Taiwan should "do whatever it thinks is necessary for the country no matter what the American said" Ma added, urging the public to support a "reasonable" arms procurement package in a rational manner "for only such support can really help Taiwan's national defense."
"That is what a sovereign country should do," said Ma.
PFP Chairman James Soong (
While the US is holding its mid-term election, Soong urged Taiwan not to rush the arms purchase so as to benefit the "arms dealers from the Republican Party."
"We should make the arms sale more transparent and prevent arms dealers from trying to make a profit from it," he said in response to a press query.
Soong said the price of the arms was "very unreasonable," and urged the US to offer a more reasonable price and "not to fool people who understand the issue better like me."
During a closed-door luncheon with local officials and opinion leaders in Taitung County yesterday, President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen was also quoted as saying that his insistence on safeguarding a Taiwan-centered identity remains unchanged and that Taiwan must go its own way because Taiwan and China are "one country on each side of the Taiwan Strait.
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih and Ko Shu-ling
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS