KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) yesterday urged the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to replace the arms race with cooperation in high-technology development.
Ting made the appeal at a seminar on cross-strait high-tech investment strategy and practice, sponsored by the Chung Hua Institution for Economic Research.
Ting said an annual meeting between Taiwan and the US on arms procurement will be held in April and that the meeting is expected to serve as a reading of the Bush administration's policy toward the nation.
Ting said he finds the procurement list, with its submarines and AEGIS radar system warships, worrying.
"This is a large-scale arms purchase plan as most of the listed items are very expensive," Ting said, adding he is worried that Taiwan's purchases may worsen Beijing-Washington ties, fuel a cross-strait arms race and hinder economic development on both sides of the Strait.
Moreover, Ting said, Taiwan's military has faced difficulties upgrading its manpower quality since it acquired a new generation of weapons in recent years.
Worse yet, Ting said, the military has also been troubled by problems in integrating its weaponry systems and in its logistic support system. He said a US military delegation confirmed the existence of such problems when it made a visit to Taiwan in February.
Ting pointed out that China's high-tech products will enter the international market after the two sides of the Strait are admitted into the WTO in the near future.
Against this backdrop, Ting said he is convinced that the real interests of the two sides of the Strait lie in cooperation in high-tech industry development, not in arms races.
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