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KMT would resume kickbacks, balk on defense: report

A Taiwanese military official has told how the revival of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) fortunes in Saturday's legislative elections could bode ill for the nation's defense.

A report on the Defense News Web site quoted a military source as saying that a KMT win in March's presidential election would lead to a resumption of procurement kickbacks, while a former official from the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) was quoted as saying that a KMT win in March would see an end to large-scale weapons purchases from the US.

The military official, fearful of KMT control, expressed concern about the outcome of the March 22 election, in which KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will face off against the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Frank Hsieh (謝長廷).

"If Hsieh wins, the KMT will repeat what it did in the past eight years. If Ma wins, defense purchases will be back. Not because the KMT wants to strengthen security but because of the kickbacks," the military source was quoted as saying.

"China won't oppose as much, for they know the KMT is not preparing Taiwan armed forces to fight them. There will be a lot of waste in defense procurements," the official said.

The former AIT official, on the other hand, said the much-delayed plan to buy eight diesel-electric submarines -- approved by the Bush administration in 2001 -- was unlikely to proceed.

"Since the KMT is trying to build a more amicable relationship with Beijing, increase links and start a peaceful dialogue, they will not aggravate [China] and will not push for more major military systems," the former official said.

The former AIT official also said that any new US president would be anxious to build better relations with Beijing, and "so the era of buying major weapons systems from the US may be over."
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