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Navy pushed to the front lines of defense spending

Almost half of the country's defense spending during the next 10 years will be on strengthening the navy's combat capabilities, Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明) said yesterday.

The huge investments to be made in the navy, which will account for an average of 49 percent of total defense spending in the next decade, will be used to buy four main types of military hardware, Tang said.

These four are: diesel-powered submarines; Kidd-class destroyers; MH-53E helicopters; and P-3C anti-submarine aircraft.

In a meeting with members of the press yesterday, Tang also outlined plans to reduce the number of military personnel.

The next wave of downsizing, called the Chingchin Project, will start in 2004. The armed forces will cut 15,000 from their ranks each year for three years, reducing the total to 340,000 by 2006.

But Tang said the there would be further cutbacks after the completion of the Chingchin Project.

"The final goal is to reduce the armed forces to 300,000," Tang said, without giving a timetable for the reductions.

Besides weaponry procurement and personnel reduction, another major concern of the military in the years to come is how to integrate military and civilian resources to build an indigenous defense industry, Tang said.

On Sept. 26, the military will hold a meeting in Kaohsiung's Tsoying district to explain to civilian defense contractors how it will transfer technology to the civilian sector, he said.

The prototype of the Kuanghua No. 6 missile boat will also be launched on that day at the Tsoying military port, he said.

The missile boat, developed by the navy, features the navy's most advanced shipbuilding technology.

Tang was also asked to comment on air force commander-in-chief General Li Tien-yu's (李天羽) remarks on Wednesday, when he said China's air force would be unable to catch up with Taiwan's, even by the year 2500.

Li was criticized in the media for his prophetic remarks and the air force general headquarters had to play down the matter by insisting that Li was only joking.

Tang did not respond directly to the question but said that Taiwan's military had been progressing steadily, making it difficult for the Chinese military to compete.
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