The Cabinet yesterday tentatively approved a NT$620 billion (US$18.6 billion) special budget allocation for procuring arms from the US, pending final approval at the Cabinet's weekly closed-door meeting tomorrow.
According to a Cabinet official who asked not to be named, the Cabinet earmarked the NT$620 billion for military purchases from the US over the next 15 years.
"The reason that the spending is coming in the form of a special budget allocation is that we don't want arms purchases to get crowded out in annual budgets," the official said.
While China has made double-digit increases in its military budget every year since 1995, Taiwan's military budget has dwindled over the past decade.
"It is important to provide the armed forces with more advanced military equipment," the official said.
While the nation's annual military expenditures accounted for 24.3 percent of the total budget in 1994, that figure plummeted to 16.5 percent last year.
Premier Yu Shyi-kun has announced outlays totaling NT$700 billion for 11 arms-procurement projects through 2012.
The defense ministry had requested NT$670 billion for the special budget allocation. The ministry's request envisioned purchasing eight diesel-electric submarines, 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft and six Patriot PAC-3 anti-missile systems, which US President George W. Bush promised to sell to Taipei three years ago.
The Cabinet has insisted that Taiwan be involved in building the eight submarines, though the US has said that doing so would drive up the cost substantially.
According to the Cabinet's plan, state-run China Shipbuilding will send technicians overseas to observe construction of the first two submarines and learn about the design, production and logistics involved in building the vessels.
At yesterday's meeting, the Cabinet earmarked NT$450 billion for the submarines, NT$120 billion for the Patriot anti-missile systems and NT$50 billion for the anti-submarine aircraft.
Because the budget plan is deemed sensitive, the Cabinet plans to discusss it at its routine closed-door meeting Wednesday.
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