Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (
"Taiwan is a sovereign state. We will not buy every weapons system that the US wants to sell to us. We will buy only the ones that really serve our defense needs," Tang said.
"Besides, our procurement policy is different now. Every weapons procurement has to go through several legally-required processes, which include internal assessments of needs for the item and endorsement by the legislature," he said.
"I explained the change to the US military and defense contractors when I visited the US in March. What I wanted them to know was that Taiwan's weaponry purchases have been institutionalized," Tang said.
"Because of the change, we now have to spend more time on each procurement case. It is not fair to criticize us as being uncooperative toward offers of arms sales by the US," he said.
Tang made the remarks yesterday, at a dinner party with reporters in response to inquiries over reports quoting US sources as saying that Taiwan military was not being cooperative regarding arms offers by the US.
Unhappy with the criticism, Tang said that Taiwan has the autonomy to decide what weapons systems it needs.
In addition to combat needs, Tang said, price is another major concern of the Ministry of National Defense in deciding whether to buy certain weapons systems.
"Under these circumstances, we have to enter several rounds of negotiations with the US. This will take time," Tang said.
Budgetary constraints in recent years have caused the ministry to become more cautious about weapons procurement, Tang suggested.
At yesterday's dinner, Tang also reiterated the military's intention of developing a professional army rather than one manned with conscripts.
The goal can be reached after the armed forces are reduced to 300,000 from current 380,000, he said, without giving a timeframe for the reduction.
The ministry has announced a preliminary plan, called the "Chinchin Project," that would reduce the number of men under arms by 15,000 a year for three years, starting in 2004. This would reduce the number of personnel to 340,000.
The military is also planning on instituting a limited professional-soldier system next year, the results of which will be used to decide how to professionalize the armed forces once troop numbers have been reduced to 300,000.
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