Wed, Oct 13, 2004 page3

• PFP legislator badgers premier on nukes, editorial

  FAULTY INFORMATION The legislator used a `Taipei Times' editorial as basis for questions to the premier on whether the government had a nuclear planning team

  • By Debby Wu / STAFF REPORTER
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  Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday denied that the government was developing nuclear weapons after People First Party Legislator Nelson Ku (顧崇廉) raised the question, basing his assumptions incorrectly on a Taipei Times editorial.

  "We have no such capability, nor are we developing such wea-pons," Yu said.

  Ku showed a copy of an editorial, entitled "Taiwan needs nuclear deterrent" (Aug. 13, page 8) when he was questioning the premier.

  Ku said he got the copy from the Internet.

  The editorial suggested that one effective way for Taiwan to defend itself against China would be to obtain nuclear weapons of its own. Ku said, without evidence, that the piece was written by an active government official.

  "Taipei Times had an editorial entitled `Taiwan needs nuclear deterrent' on August 13 this year. Can you tell me whether the author is a government official or someone not affiliated with the government?" Ku first asked Yu.

  Yu said he had not read the editorial, and Ku then said that the piece was written by a government official.

  "This person is still on your administration team," Ku said, without disclosing the person's name.

  Yu then said that he respected the freedom of the author, unless the person broke a law.

  "This is not about breaking laws -- this is about a government official," Ku responded.

  Ku then questioned Ou Yang Min-shen (歐陽敏盛), chairman of the Atomic Energy Council, on whether Taiwan was developing nuclear weapons.

  "Our country has been under comprehensive monitoring by international society," Ou Yang said.

  But Ku was still unsatisfied.

  "Is there a group of non-US scientists working on nuclear weapons in Taiwan?" Ku asked.

  Both Ou Yang and Yu gave a negative answer, but Ku pressed on.

  "Is there a five-people team, including active and past members from the current administration, planning the development of nuclear weapons?" Ku said.

  Yu also denied there was such a team, but Ku still would not give up his questioning.

  "Is there someone from your Cabinet team who once said in Washington DC, that he [or she] is personally against nuclear wea-pons, but that someone else on the team supports them?" Ku said.

  Yu again gave a negative response, and Ku finally stopped in his questioning.

  But he then told Yu that he should find out who the author of the editorial was, out of national security concerns.

  The editorial actually said that while others may find nuclear weapons unfeasible, the author took a different view: "In the end this comes down to Taiwan's need for nuclear weapons. The ability to obliterate China's 10 largest cities and the Three Gorges Dam would be a powerful deterrent to China's adventurism. Some might find this horrible to contemplate, but if China leaves Taiwan in peace, it is something that would never have to be faced. It would be up to China."

  Editor's note: The Taipei Times is a wholly privately-owned company and is not financially supported by the government in any way. Editorial operations at the Taipei Times are not influenced by the government or government officials and the editorial is written solely by the newspaper's editorial staff.

  Therefore the questions asked by Legislator Nelson Ku were not based on fact.
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