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Chen says private arms companies not a new thing

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that there were precedents in foreign countries to make arms procurements via privately run companies.

Chen said Taiwan faces difficulties when seeking to obtain advanced arms or weaponry systems from industrially advanced countries via official channels, given the country's constrained diplomatic situation.

Chen made the remarks in an indirect response to the resignation on Saturday of Minister of National Defense Lee Tien-yu (李天羽) over the controversy surrounding the formation of the private arms firm Taiwan Goal in the wake of heavy complaints from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators.

The KMT legislators questioned the legitimacy of Taiwan Goal, which was established with public funds but will be outside the control of the Ministry of National Defense and the legislature.

Lee said in a news release posted on the Ministry of National Defense Web site on Saturday that he had set his mind on implementing the nation's defense policy and upgrading its defense capability ever since assuming the post last May.

"Although I was instructed to establish Taiwan Goal, I have failed to carry out the plan properly and have caused misgivings in the public about the project, for which I have to step down," Lee's statement said.

The president made the remarks during a visit to Chen I-chiu (陳義秋), a former presidential adviser appointed by Chen in 2001, in Kaohsiung County, members of Chen I-chiu's family said.
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