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Peace advocate calls for diversion of weapons expense

A peace advocate yesterday called the governments on each side of the Taiwan Strait to turn their swords into plough shares.

"A Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report reminded us that cross-strait relations would be largely improved if the governments on each side turned their huge annual expenses on arms to peaceful uses such as bilateral trade," said Chien Hsi-chieh (簡錫土皆), executive director of the Peacetime Foundation of Taiwan.

Chien made the remark in a news conference where he cited the SIPRI annual report on global military spending.

The report indicated an 18.3 percent weapons budget growth in China, the largest increase worldwide for last year.

In contrast, having maintained the lead as the world's largest weaponry importer up to 1998, Taiwan's military expense has decreased year by year since then and it fell out of the first 15 countries this year, the report said.

"In 2000, Taiwan cut 70 percent of its weaponry budget," Chien said."

"China was increasing its spending on weaponry and now it is the No.1 weaponry importer," he said.

He urged authorities on both sides of the Strait to divert the enormous expense on weaponry purchases to other peaceful uses.

"More tangible ways must be found to solve the current deadlock between Taiwan and China," Chien said.

"Different ways must be found to spend this huge amount of money that involve collaboration on cross-strait trade or mutual exploitation of natural resources," he said.

Chien also questioned whether a concentration of weapons in the hands of a few is conducive to world peace.

Although 62 percent of total global weaponry was purchased by only five countries last year, a number of unsolved regional conflicts continued to flair up, he said.
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