The government yesterday looked set to shelve the controversial purchase of eight US submarines, after a legislative fact-finding mission to the US found they were too expensive, a local cable station reported.
"After a meeting here, we have agreed to set aside the submarine budget," Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Hsiu-yen (
Lu was speaking to reporters in the US.
A 15-member legislative delegation is currently in the US to review the planned weapons purchases.
The Cabinet on June 2 approved a special budget of NT$610 billion (US$18.2 billion) for the purchase of advanced weaponry.
But the billion-dollar spending spree has drawn ire with some critics saying the country cannot afford it while others say the new weaponry will not be delivered in time to help Taiwan fend off an attack from China in coming years.
The planned submarine purchase has been at the center of the controversy.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"Today, we formally demanded the ministry quote a new price on the submarine deal," Wang reportedly said.
The draft budget, pending the legislature's final approval, calls for the procurement of eight submarines, a modified version of Patriot PAC-III anti-missile systems and a fleet of anti-submarine aircraft over a 15-year period beginning next year.
In the US, Wang and the delegation, during their visit to Capitol Hill Tuesday, met with the four co-chairmen of the US Congressional Taiwan Caucus.
Earlier in the day, the delegation listened to a briefing by US defense officials on functions of the conventional submarines that Taiwan intends to buy from the US as well as other equipment systems.
A new quotation by the US for eight submarines on Taiwan's military procurement list might lead to delays in delivery of the vessels, Huang Hui-sheng (黃穗生), a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense (MND), said yesterday.
Huang's comment came after a media report quoted Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) as asking the US to offer a new quotation for the eight diesel-powered submarines, which are to cost Taiwan NT$400 billion.
Although Huang said that the MND will abide by any resolutions approved by the Legislative Yuan, he claimed that a new price quotation is likely to postpone US deliveries of the submarines by over six months at a time when the Taiwan authorities are hoping to take delivery of the ships five years sooner than originally quoted.
According to MND officials, the existing quotation by the US is merely a rough estimate that does not take into consideration the model of the submarines.
The US may still offer the same price in the future, even if it gives another quote again, they pointed out, adding that this would be an unnecessary waste of time.
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