Sun, Jun 06, 2004 page8

• Arms purchases can ensure peace

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  On Wednesday, the Executive Yuan approved a special budget for major weapons purchases, including NT$144.9 billion for Patriot antimissile systems, NT$412.1 billion for diesel electric submarines and NT$53 billion for long-range antisubmarine aircraft. The total cost was NT$610.8 billion, with funds to come from sales of state lands and stock in state-owned enterprises, as well as issuance of government bonds. The expenditure would be allocated over a period of 15 years (an average of NT$40 billion each year). In addition, a bill regulating major arms procurements was also approved during the meeting. Both the bill and the budgets will be sent to the Legislative Yuan for review and approval. Executive Yuan spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) pointed out that making special budgets for major arms procurement was done for the purpose of preventing the national expenditure deficits from exceeding the the ceiling on government debts, and from crowding out the demands for other weapons or facilities.

  China issued a declaration on May 17, making no attempt whatsoever to conceal its ambitions about engulfing Taiwan as well as indicating a willingness to stop Taiwan independence and to protect the sovereignty and territory of China at all costs. Recently, Beijing has directly named and criticized "pan-green Taiwanese businessmen." Against a backdrop of the tense cross-strait relationship, the approval of the NT$610 billion budget by the Executive Yuan for major arms procurement is significant. In recent years, the military budgets of our country have have been consistently decreasing. Under the circumstances, the NT$610 billion arms budget constitutes a weighty load on the state finance. The opposition has also questioned whether the move will launch an endless cross-strait arms race, leading to the ultimate financial collapse of Taiwan's government. If the government takes the appropriate steps in financial management, this will not happen. One example would be to release the state-owned land of Taiwan Sugar Co. (台糖) for sale and to re-zone this for industrial development. The move would help the government obtain the necessary funds and would lower costs for industrial investors, as well as creating employment opportunities. This is indeed killing several birds with one stone. However, we must point out that the pursuit of peace does not come without a price tag. As Taiwan faces a hostile and unreasonable enemy, Taiwan really has no choice but to purchase modern weapons. According to the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), the US must supply Taiwan with sufficient defensive arms to safeguard peace in the Taiwan Strait. However, Taiwan cannot entirely rely on the US. Therefore, we must shoulder the responsibility of self-defense.

  The imbalance in military power between China and Taiwan is becoming serious. China's military budgets have been increasing massively each year. Yet Taiwan has made no major progress in strengthening its defensive capabilities. China's intention to deal with Taiwan through military means is also becoming increasingly apparent, as it becomes increasingly impatient and agitated. Still, many people in Taiwan remain incapable of recognizing who our enemies are. Not only have some of our countrymen lost any sense of alarm about Chinese ambitions regarding Taiwan, but a large number of Taiwanese have been boldly going west as a result of their deluded convictions that business should not mix with politics and that business globalization is the equivalent of investing in China. As a result, China is empowered while Taiwan is weakened. This has further enabled China to deal with Taiwan with greater military might. Once China becomes powerful, it becomes even more desperate about expanding outward. Taiwan then becomes the first target of Chinese hegemony. The mainstream US media have recently indicated that as the internal power struggle of the Chinese government becomes increasingly serious under the leadership of Central Military Commission Chairman Jiang Zemin (江澤民), the military hardliners are unwilling to hand over control and therefore have been attempting to foment unrest over Taiwan and Hong Kong so as to counter the Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) regime. Thus the cross-strait relationship has become especially unpredictable. Some of our countrymen seem to have concern about this lurking danger and continue to indulge in internal struggle and easy living.

  Although the Taiwanese lack a sense of crisis, the US has voiced its own worries, repeatedly alerting Taiwan out of their goodwill. The recent US report on China's military strength should wake up the Taiwanese people. The report pointed out that after 20 years of continuous Chinese military expansion, the imbalance has gradually tipped toward China. China's various actions and statements also indicate that its willingness to use force is increasing. The report further disclosed that the annual military budget released by China for 2004 was around US$25 billion, yet the US estimated that the actual military expenditure of China in 2003 had been as high as US$70 billion, giving China the world's third-highest military budget, topped only by the US and Russia. This report also highlighted Taiwan's military vulnerabilities, which include the conservatism of military professionals, lack of training and deficient knowledge of technology. Even more important is the continuous decline of Taiwan's military budgets over the past decade, while both arms procurements and advanced troop training require increasing funding. Therefore, the report urged Taiwan to increase its military spending to counter the rapid modernization of Chinese naval, air and military powers.

  President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has indicated that this year is a critical moment in the relationships between the US, China and Taiwan. We must strengthen Taiwan's military capability while not giving up on any chance to engage in dialogue and negotiation with China so as to strengthen regional peace. Chen's inauguration speech also emphasized his hope to establish mutual trust and to pursue peace. Strengthening military capability and seeking peace are not contradictory but facilitate each other. Otherwise, as China becomes increasingly unreasonable, if Taiwan cannot strengthen its military in time, we may face a crisis. Peace would then become nothing but empty talk. Only when Taiwan possesses a powerful self-defense capability can China's ambition be stopped. This is the only way to make China come out of its dream about taking over Taiwan by force and willingly engage in negotiations and exchanges from parallel and equal sovereign bases. This way, peace will become a reality. The arms to be purchased with the NT$610 billion are keys to filling the gaps in Taiwan's military strength and making China back off.

  Therefore, we hope that the opposition parties can leave behind their differences with the ruling camp, as well as prejudice and ideology on their parts. Do not characterize the arms procurements as "exchanging favors with the US" or "paying protection fees to the US" or "demeaning our sovereignty." The opposition should support the special budgets for arms purchases. If the budget is turned down as a result of party rivalry, the conclusion reached by the US in the above-described reports -- that the biggest military challenge in Taiwan is the lack of internal consensus about increasing the military budgets -- will become a reality. While NT$610 billion may be a lot of money, it is a demonstration of our love for the land we live on. We should boldly take on the responsibility of protecting ourselves, so as to win respect of the world.
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