The Ministry of National Defense yesterday launched a new campaign promoting the NT$610.8 (US$19.8 billion) bill to procure arms from the US to coincide with the opening of the new legislative term.
"The new wave of publicity skirts sensitive political issues and focuses instead on the significance of national security. We hope to win greater public backing," Political Warfare Department director-general Hu Chen-pu (
He admitted that last year's campaign urging people to "save a cup of tea every day in exchange for weapons" sparked controversy and did little to facilitate passage of the bill.
PHOTO: FANG PING-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Hu said China has just released its annual military budget, which features a 12.5 percent increase in spending on last year.
But China is thought to conceal a large amount of additional military spending within other budgets, so foreign observers have estimated the country's actual military spending at two to three times the official figure, Hu said.
The nation therefore cannot ignore the tipping of the cross-strait military balance, he said.
Hu said the new campaign relies on expert opinion that aggressor nations with three times the military force of a vulnerable nation will win in any conflict, that two times the military force will mean the result is uncertain, but that if the figure is less than one-and-a-half times, victory is not possible.
Ministry research found that the procurement of the desired weapons would close the military gap with China to a factor of 1.67, thereby ensuring Taiwan's security for about 30 years.
Hu said that while some legislators were keen on the idea of approving the arms deal through a referendum, defense issues were a professional matter not suited to a plebiscite.
The new campaign also uses former US president Ronald Reagan's famous words "peace through strength" and the Chinese proverb "no eggs are unbroken when the nest is overturned" on its posters.
The campaign says the procurement package keeps Taiwan up to speed with the rest of the world.
It asks why the US, Japan and the Netherlands purchased Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile batteries, why 16 countries, including Japan and South Korea, use P-3C maritime patrol aircraft, and why China strongly opposes the sale of US submarines to Taiwan. The reply is that these are advanced arms.
Hu said the ministry will adopt a three-pronged strategy targeting the public, legislative caucuses and individual legislators to increase understanding of the issue. The campaign will run in newspapers and on TV, as well as on buses and the MRT in Taipei.
Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) has announced that the NT$610.8 billion weapons procurement expenditure could be cut down to NT$590 billion, reflecting the weakness of the US dollar, and even reduced to NT$480 billion if Taiwan elects not to purchase eight diesel submarines from the US.
However, opposition legislators have asked the ministry to cut the budget by at least NT$380 billion.
The biggest-ever weapons procurement plan in the nation's history would purchase three major items -- three PAC-3 missile batteries, 12 P-3C maritime patrol aircraft and the eight diesel-powered submarines.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS