Weapons purchases `too slow'

Former AIT chairman Richard Bush, right, shakes hands with Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats' Taiwan representative Fang Jen-hui, as DPP Legislator Mark Chen, second right, and other guests look on, before his speech on China's economic development and cross-strait relations yesterday. PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES

Taiwan hurry up and buy weapons the US has offered to sell to bolster its defense capabilities, former AIT chairman Richard Bush said yesterday.

"Taiwan is not moving fast enough to purchase weapon systems that the US has agreed to sell. We agreed to sell them because you needed them," Bush said.

"Taiwan needs to move faster to purchase advanced weapon systems [from the US]. This is to deter some kind of attack we hope will never happen. If you increase the cost of an attack, it is less likely to occur," he said. "If the deterrent fails, you will have a better chance to defend yourself."

Bush the remarks yesterday at the National Taiwan University law school in Taipei as he delivered a speech on China's economic development and cross-strait relations. He is in Taiwan for a short visit.

Bush, now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, stressed in the speech that despite relations between the US and Taiwan being stable and strong, there were some problems between the two countries that could not be ignored including Taiwan's tardiness over weapons purchases.

"The question that some Americans are asking is that we approved certain [weapons] systems because we feel you need them. We have gone through a careful process of deciding that ... But for one reason or another, the purchases did not take place."

Richard Bush, former chaiman of AIT

"The question that some Americans are asking is that we approved certain [weapons] systems because we feel you need them. We have gone through a careful process of deciding that," he said. "But for one reason or another, the purchases did not take place." Bush added, however, that he understands what has slowed the process.

"In part that's because Taiwan is a democracy. Your legislature has the authority to approve the spending. If our legislature were in the same position, they would probably want to exercise that authority as well," he said.

"I think it is also true that the [purchase] process is quite long from the request that was made to the time it was presented to the Legislative Yuan," he said.

"I am not sure that there is anything that could be done about that. But I think the US authorizes the sales [of advanced weapon systems] for good reasons."

Bush not specify which particular weapon systems he was talking about. But it was believed that he had in mind the weapons package approved by the George W. Bush administration in April, 2000, which itself includes systems earlier earmarked for sale to Taiwan by the preceeding Bill Clinton administration such as long-range early-warning radar and the Patriot PAC-3 air defense missile system.

The US government has previously let it be known that it is unhappy with Taiwan's delay over the weapons purchases.

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday declined to comment on Bush's remarks or explain the holdup in buying the weapons systems.

But the legislature is one of the main reasons for the slow pace of procurement.

In the past, the legislature acted as a rubber stamp for weapons procurement budgets. It did not require extensive review time.

Opposition have used the review process to question the necessity of buying many of the weapons on offer and their suitability for Taiwan.

Their counterparts have accused them of conspiring with Beijing to weaken Taiwan's defense capabilities.