Taiwan Government News, Taiwan's plan to procure 66 F-16 C and D fighter jets from the United States is moving right on schedule despite a rumor speculating that U.S. officials have already turned down Taiwan's request to purchase the fighter planes, said the Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday at a press conference held to present its annual national defense report.
According to Defense News, a U.S. publication, the Bush administration is still mulling whether to accept Taiwan's procurement request.
However, MND Minister Lee Jye said the U.S. has not rejected any proposals from Taiwan and he was able to solidify the deal during a meeting with U.S. officials on Monday.
Lee expressed that he has called on Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng for support to expedite the approval of the arms procurement package which has been stalled for three years.
He noted that the arms procurement package from the U.S., which includes six Patriot PAC-3 anti-missile batteries, eight electric-powered submarines, and a squadron of P-3C anti-submarine aircrafts, has been stonewalled by the Legislative Yuan for over 40 times in the last three years.
The U.S., said Lee, has been discontent with the delay. Lee also asserted that despite complaints by the KMT legislators over the high costs of the weapons, the MND has done its best to negotiate for a fair price.
“We have calculated the price precisely and we hope to cut down the figure so it could be accepted by the public,” said he, adding that the arms procurement package is closely related to national security and opposition lawmakers should not block it anymore.
The national defense report also states that as of end of 2005, China has deployed 784 Dongfeng-series short rage ballistic missiles against Taiwan and the number is increasing by 75 to 100 each year.
These missiles, said the report, are able to reach Taiwan proper in about seven minutes after their initial launch from the east coast of southern China.
During the same press conference, MND Deputy Minister Lao Kuang-yi said this year's defense budget was NT$71 billion more than last year. Although it appears to be an enormous increase, he claimed this is the first increase in ten years.
Lee also said in the past ten years, China's military spending has been increasing at a double-digit rate while Taiwan has been decreasing its defense budget. The difference, said Lee, has created an imbalance of military strength in favor of China.
Lee also announced that the government is continuing its efforts to downsize the armed forces, with a target of cutting the number of troops to 275,000 by 2008.
According to the report, the ministry is also reforming its recruiting system, aiming to change its current conscription system so that by 2008, 60 percent of the service men and women will be voluntary, with the other 40 percent conscripted.
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