The government plans to outlay NT$700 billion for 11 items as a part of its arms-procurement spending through 2012, Government Information Office Director-General Arthur Iap (葉國興) told the Taipei Times on Wednesday.
Commenting on his closed-door meeting with former US defense secretary William Cohen in which arms procurement was discussed, Premier Yu Shyi-kun said in Haiti on Wednesday that the government's arms procurement is an open and transparent process, although there is still room for improvement.
"The government's arms procurement is as transparent as it can be, and the government has been working on making arms procurement more clear and open," Iap quoted the premier as saying.
Iap made the remarks in response to recent concerns voiced by Cohen, who criticized Taiwan's lack of transparency -- particularly in arms procurement -- during a closed-door meeting with Yu in New York City on Tuesday.
According to Iap, the government has mapped out a NT$700 billion, 11-item arms-procurement plan that spans from this year to 2012. "For next year, we plan to earmark NT$5.2 billion to purchase some submarines and tanks, among other things," he said.
Dismissing speculation that Cohen tried to lobby for arm sales during the meeting, Paul Gephard, vice president of the Cohen Group, told the Taipei Times that Cohen simply raised long-standing US concerns about the lack of transparency and predictability when it comes to Taiwan's arms-procurement process.
"[Cohen also mentioned] the need for civilian oversight over that process and increased transparence and openness in their process," Gephard said. "There was no lobbying ... for the government of Taiwan to select any particular equipment.
"The US administration has offered to provide the Taiwanese Kidd-class destroyers and submarines and a whole host of other things. But the [former] secretary did not advocate any particular contractor in a relationship to these procurements," Gephard said.
Meanwhile, Yu witnessed the signing of an investment agreement, in which Day Sheng-tong (
Day said that he hopes the hat factory will help create 1,000 to 2,000 jobs and involve the transfer of manufacturing technology from Taiwan to Haiti.
Yu said the investment marks an important step in economic cooperation between the two countries.
"I'm calling on more Taiwanese big, medium-sized and small enterprises to invest in Haiti, which has remained one of Taiwan's most important diplomatic allies since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1956," Yu said.
The highlight of the day, however, was Yu's bungled schedule. It was seriously disrupted because of the sudden change of plans and the drivers' unfamiliarity with the roads. Instead of inspecting road construction funded by the Taiwan government near the international airport, Yu was driven to his next event -- the inspection of a Taiwan-funded university.
Taiwanese media and the delegation, who were in separate cars, spent more than two hours going back and forth on the same road searching for the designated site of the university.
Both the road work and university are part of a US$55 million cooperation project, which includes the establishment of medical schools, literary improvement programs and housing construction.
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