The Cabinet yesterday approved the Ministry of National Defense's new NT$480 billion (US$15.5 billion) weapons procurement budget, after the original NT$610.8 billion budget was rejected by the legislature earlier this year.
"We have to approve it and have to do it now, since it is about time we did so," said Chou Jung-tai (
Asked whether the budget's approval at this time is in response to the Chinese government's passage of its "Anti-Secession" Law, Chou said it was just a coincidence.
"The premier had asked that all the vetoed proposals be reviewed and re-submitted within one month. That is why the procurement was approved this morning," Chou said.
The ministry reduced its original NT$610.8 billion weapons procurement budget to NT$480 billion last month after the original version was vetoed by the Legislative Yuan in January.
NT dollar's rise
Ministry officials said that the smaller budget reflects the appreciation of the NT dollar against the US dollar over the last few months.
The biggest weapons procurement plan in the nation's history would buy three items: three Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) surface-to-air missile defense systems, 12 P-3C maritime patrol aircraft and eight diesel powered submarines.
Despite the smaller budget presented this time, the ministry retained all three items in the procurement proposal.
According to the ministry's plan, the weapons procurement will be completed in 15 years.
The ministry's original proposal was vetoed because pan-blue lawmakers, who form the majority in the legislature, as well as a few pan-green lawmakers, said the budget was too high and insisted that Taiwan build the submarines itself.
In the meantime, Chou said that Premier Frank Hsieh (
"The proposal is not a final deal yet so there is still space for us to negotiate with lawmakers in the future," Chou said. "But, there is no time for us to hesitate. It is time for us to do something."
Next week
Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday said it would put the special arms bill on the agenda of the legislature's Procedure Committee next Tuesday, with the hope of pushing it through to committee review.
DPP caucus whip Chao Yung-ching (
"While our priority is to pass the bill and budget, anything else is negotiable," he told reporters after a closed-door caucus meeting to discuss the issue.
Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling
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