Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said yesterday that it will not be easy for the legislature to pass the budget for a large arms purchase in October.
Wang made the remarks as the Legislative Yuan prepares to review a proposal by the Executive Yuan for a NT$610.8 billion (US$18 billion) budget to buy US arms.
Wang said that the ruling and opposition parties should first consult on a special statute regarding the arms purchase before they review the budget for the purchase.
Judging from that, he said, "It will be difficult for the arms purchase budget to clear the legislature in October."
Even as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) demanded that the arms purchase bill be passed prior to the year-end legislative elections, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) adopted a defensive posture making use of their majority in the legislature to demand massive cuts in the cost of submarines included in the arms package.
Wang earlier has said that NT$150 billion should be cut from the budget, while the PFP has demanded a cut of at least NT$180 billion.
While not totally opposed to the submarine purchase, the KMT and PFP legislators demand a "reasonable" price for the purchase, and have stated objections to the prior incorporation of the sale into the budget, as requested by the US.
Meanwhile, eleven Academia Sinica research fellows have signed a petition against the arms purchase plan.
In a statement made Sunday called "Know Taiwan, a Warning to Avert Disaster," the academics said that the nation was descending into authoritarianism, ethnic conflict, an escalation of cross-strait tensions and a spiraling arms buildup. They called on the public to counter these trends, saying that rejecting the arms purchase bill would be a first major step in the right direction.
The petition was written by Lao Sze-kwang (勞思光), who is overseas and had to cancel his plan to appear at Sunday's event due to health problems. A total of eight of the 11 signatories are not in the country.
The petitioners stated that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) lied when he said the arms bill would not affect other budgetary allocations for such things as education and social welfare.
They said the NT$610.8 billion arms budget was a huge financial burden on the country, and that it would lead to demands for further arms purchases. They ar-gued that even if the nation emptied its coffers to buy arms, this would not scare off its enemies, but simply cause them to further build up their military strength in response.
The petitioners also said that this military buildup would in no way reduce the chance of conflict.
On Sept. 25, the Democratic Action Alliance and the Anti-Arms Purchasing Alliance (6108反軍購大聯盟) will stage a rally and concert, calling on the government to use the money to improve transportation, education and social welfare instead of for the arms purchase.
Anti-Arms Purchasing Alliance convenor Chang Ya-chung (張亞中), said that while the government is selling land, issuing bonds and using other methods to raise money for the purchase, many people in Taiwan are still suffering the effects of recent storm and flood damage or are unable to pay school fees, feed their children and pay their mortgages.
Responding to the Academia Sinica researchers' petition, Cabinet Spokesman Chen Chi-mai (
"The government's arms procurement plan is not aimed at military competition but at effective intimidation and national security," Chen said. "We'd like to remind the public not to embrace quixotic thinking about China and think that it would minimize its military threat."
The US-China Commission's annual report to the US Congress found that China's official budget allocation for weapons procurement showed an approximately 1,000 percent increase over a 12-year period, far outpacing China's rapid growth in GDP.
Although the officially announced Chinese arms budget this year is more than US$25 billion, the report said that the budget is grossly underreported, estimating it at between US$50 billion to US$70 billion, ranking China third in military spending after the US and Russia.
As the Chinese government is drafting a unification law, Chen said that Beijing's cross-strait policy is expected to shift from "no Taiwan independence, no military assault" to "no unification, no peace."
"Despite China's bloodless transfer of power of its highest military chief yesterday, Beijing is still reluctant to talk with us," Chen said.
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of
FINE PRINT: Parents should carefully evaluate offers from cram schools that are designed to lower the amount they have to refund later, a New Taipei City official said New Taipei City Consumer Protection Office Director Wang Chih-yu (王治宇) urged parents to check contract content and institutional operations before sending children to cram schools, enrichment classes or day care centers during summer vacation. Closures and refund problems most commonly occur in cram schools, especially language cram schools, many of which have been facing difficulties due to the popularity of online learning apps and studying abroad, Wang said. Cram schools that closed due to financial issues were often unable to refund tuition fees, he said. Under Article 24 of the Rules for the Establishment and Management of Short-term Supplementary Learning Centers (短期補習班設立及管理準則), cram
RSS