Chen unveils DPP's platform on national security

In the latest of a series of policy statements aimed at boosting his campaign, DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (3?糮? released his national defense policy "white paper" yesterday, which recommends the enactment of a "basic law covering the rights and obligations of servicemen," as well as an overall reduction of personnel serving in Taiwan's armed forces.

Chen said that if he were elected, he would push to bring the number serving in the forces down to under 260,000 from the current 420,000.

He also appealed to the military to trust in the DPP if it comes to power, saying all of its top officials would remain in their current positions, specifically Minister of National Defense Tang Fei (--?/CHINESE>) and Chief of the General Staff Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明).

"We will not only maintain their status, but will authorize them to take on even more responsibility," Chen said.

DPP lawmaker Parris Chang (張|院?/CHINESE>), a key figure in Chen's national policy committee task force, said the focus of the national defense policy "white paper" was centered on the establishment of a civil defense system.

"A special reactionary force is necessary for rescuing victims when disasters occur. And a complete civil defense structure to train a reservist force is also extremely important in order to maximize our defensive capabilities," Chang said.

Chen yesterday visited officials at the military-run Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (漢翔航空?u業?膝q), Taiwan's jet fighter technology research center in Taichung County, using the occasion to publicize the DPP's national security plan.

Chen said that China's military threat should be the most important issue when considering Taiwan's security -- and that it was therefore necessary to use what he termed "confidence-building measures" to prevent conflicts that "might arise from misinformation."

He said the measures, which include setting up a hot-line between leaders in Taipei and Beijing, were imperative for stability on both sides of Taiwan Strait.

Chen said the "basic law," to be drawn up by the DPP's legislative caucus, should improve the general state of the armed forces, including the setting up of a system for psychological counselling, welfare benefits for family dependants, and conducting regular safety drills to prevent accidents.

Focusing on military strategy, Chen said the roles of the air force, the navy and the country's missile defenses should all be enhanced.

"The most important strategy is to ensure any theater of war is situated far from our territory. This means we have to establish advanced guided-missile technology, which would ensure both our ability to engage incoming missiles and to launch an assault on enemy territory," Chen said.

He added that although the size of Taiwan's armed forces personnel has already been reduced to 420,000 -- to be further downsized to 400,000 under existing plans -- the military could function perfectly well with a complement of 250,000 to 260,000, of which the army alone would account for less than 120,000.

"Developing more high-tech weapons and improving the mobility of our troops are prime directives for us. And the government can boost the impetus toward a more efficient system by improving the pay of military officials," Chen added.

In addition, Chen vowed to upgrade Taiwan's military strength by establishing what he termed a "third generation force," which should be on par with the rest of the world in terms of the application of information technology.