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Scrap Taiwan Goal immediately: KMT

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday urged the premier to immediately scrap the newly established arms trading firm Taiwan Goal.

KMT caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) said at a media conference that the caucus would send an official notice to the Ministry of National Defense urging it not to become a shareholder in the firm or sign any contract with it.

She said the caucus might seek to pass a binding legislative resolution to prevent the ministry from funding and signing contracts with the firm.

Kuo also threatened to boycott ministry budget requests related to the company after the legislature convenes on Friday if the ministry has signed any contract with the firm "in any form" by that time.

KMT Legislator Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛), who also attended the conference, said the caucus called for the immediate disbanding of Taiwan Goal because the company had "secretly" signed at least 10 deals with arms suppliers, adding that the government would have to pay "a bigger price" to dismiss the company once the new president is elected next month.

The caucus' criticism came after Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) confirmed the company's existence last Thursday. He said that the government was happy to see such a company established and was funding its operations.

Taiwan Goal, established at the end of last month, is led by Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁), a stalwart of the Democratic Progressive Party's now disbanded New Tide faction.

The premier last week defended Wu's appointment as the company's president, saying it was an unpaid job and that Wu may be replaced in the future.

The ministry on Friday denied that the government had profited financially from the company.

"Cooperating with foreign arms suppliers helps reduce the sensitivity of arms exports and creates more jobs in arms maintenance services. It's a global trend," Wu Wei-rong (吳偉榮), director-general of the Armaments Bureau, told a press conference last Friday.

Wu Wei-rong said there was a "retreat mechanism" for the company, meaning that it would be automatically disbanded if it failed to receive ministry funding within one year.

KMT caucus Deputy Secretary-General Alex Fai (費鴻泰) accused the ministry of lying, saying that the company would still be able to operate as long as the ministry signed contracts with it.

"Once again, I would like to urge the ministry not to lie to people. If it dares to sign any contract authorizing Taiwan Goal to deal with [national] arms procurement, maintenance or cooperation without the oversight of the legislature, the caucus will definitely refer Defense Minister Lee Tien-yu (李天羽) to the justice system," Fai said.

When asked if the caucus would boycott the premier's administrative report to the legislature because of the existence of the company, Fai said the caucus had not reached any conclusion.

In response, the military yesterday said that Taiwan Goal would be supervised by the Legislative Yuan and the Control Yuan after it begins formal operations and appoints its board in June or July.

Ministry spokesman Yu Sy-tue (虞思祖) told a press conference yesterday that, because Taiwan Goal shareholders would consist of state-owned companies, appointees to the board would be assigned by the Executive Yuan.

He said the current government would not appoint any company officials, since appointments would be made in June at the earliest.

Yu said incumbent military officials would not be eligible to work for the company to avoid conflicts of interest under regulations for public workers.

Because 45 percent of Taiwan Goal's initial capital would be sourced from the ministry, Yu said, the ministry would appoint military officials to take board posts and supervise the company.

Wu Wei-rong has acknowledged that he traveled to Europe on Dec. 25 last year to meet officials from the French and Dutch armaments bureaus, with whom he discussed future cooperation.

Capital of NT$200 million (US$6.3 million) has been underwritten for Taiwan Goal, with NT$90 million coming from the defense ministry, he said.

As the project was still in the planning stages, the ministry has not yet injected any funds into the company, he said.

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