Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (
Tang said that China's North Sea Fleet had passed Taiwan two weeks ago on their way to military exercises in the South China sea.
"The Chinese warships' recent passage along the eastern coast of Taiwan was unprecedented," he said. "It shows that the navy should no longer confine its operations to the Taiwan Strait. It should go to the open seas."
Tang made the remarks yesterday on the floor of the legislature as he responded to a question from an opposition lawmaker over why the military insists on buying the Kidds despite criticism about the cost and usefulness of the ships.
Tang's response was unusual, as the ministry does not normally discuss security issues in public, especially Chinese military exercises, for fear of panicking the public.
"The reason I unveiled the fact is to let the public know why we want to buy large fighting ships like the Kidds," he said.
"The Kidd-class destroyers that the navy will buy are quite capable of the task. The navy needs to buy these ships," he said.
It was not the first time that Tang has expressed in public his support for the purchase of the Kidds. But yesterday, Tang delivered his strongest-ever message that he believed the Kidds would be essential in neutralizing the potential military threat from the Chinese navy.
Tang's support for the deal is a boost to the navy, which is not assured of getting the budget for the Kidds passed in the legislature.
The navy is facing great pressure from lawmakers from the ruling and opposition camps over the Kidds deal.
The legislative caucus of the ruling DPP was initially unified in its support for the Kidds deal, but yesterday three members appeared to have changed their minds.
The three lawmakers, led by Lin Chin-hsin (林進興), said in a joint press release that they also would like to have the budget for the Kidds frozen but not for the same reasons as the the PFP and KMT.
"The US has been treating Taiwan as a junkyard for its unwanted military equipment. It has been dumping useless weaponry on the island," they said.
"The US also showed no respect to our first lady during her recent trip to the continent. If the US wants to earn more money from Taiwan, they should send high-ranking officials to the island. Otherwise, the Kidds purchase plan will be shelved," they said.
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