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Cabinet lauds Lawless' remark on arms purchase

The Executive Yuan yesterday expressed appreciation for the comments made by Richard Lawless, a deputy undersecretary at the US Defense Department, saying the US has always been the nation's staunchest ally.

"We're grateful that the US government has been very supportive of us in the past and we believe it will continue to support us in the future," Cabinet Spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) told a press conference following the weekly closed-door Cabinet meeting yesterday afternoon.

In an interview with a Taiwan-ese TV network on Tuesday, Lawless said that if the Legislative Yuan fails to approve the controversial NT$610.8 (US$18 billion) arms procurement budget, Taiwan's foreign friends would see it as a burden rather than a comrade.

Chen yesterday called on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP), and especially these parties' leaders, to seriously ponder Lawless' remarks and request their legislative caucuses to support the arms purchase budget.

"He is right," Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) said yesterday in response to Lawless' remarks.

Continuing his series of visits to the opposition parties to seek support for the arms procurement budget, Lee yesterday met with the PFP at the Legislative Yuan, where he launched an appeal that national security should be placed above the interests of political parties.

In response to a question about whether the arms purchase plan has come under heavy pressure from the US government, Lee said: "Our relationship and communication with the US has always been good. They understand the situation in Taiwan well."

Veterans Affairs Commission Chairman Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) yesterday expressed a different view, saying that it was probably due to a lack of understanding that the US thinks the Taiwanese people's will to oppose their enemies was not strong enough.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party has started distributing publicity material to promote the government's arms deal by means of a pamphlet published in magazines and newspapers.

The 20-page pamphlet entitled Peace only comes with strong defensive power, aims to convince the public that only when Taiwan has strengthened its defenses will true peace exist in the Taiwan Strait.

additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling
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