While Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (
Lee's retention of the defense portfolio during the recent Cabinet reshuffle suggests the government remains determined to push through the bill to pay for three major weapons systems from the US.
"President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) thinks Lee, as a former top naval officer, is the most suitable military person to build the nation's new submarine force and P-3C Orion maritime-patrol force, the two naval weapons in the arms package," said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠).
The minister's office has told both the nation and the US that the government is still sticking with the special arms procurement package, although the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has announced that it will offer its own version of an arms bill next month to challenge the package.
"Although it has encountered serious setbacks on the arms bill, Lee Jye's office has indicated that current military policy would not change," said Chang Kuo-cheng (張國城), former director of the DPP's Department of Chinese Affairs.
Indeed, Lee Jye's insistence on moving ahead with plans to buy eight submarines -- one of the most controversial items in the budget proposal for both the pan-blue camp and some critics in the US, reflects his agreement with Chen on the need to build a strategic force for this country.
"I do not agree with the so-called `purely defensive military' idea that KMT Legislator Su Chi (蘇起) suggested recently when he said the country should devote itself to a defensive military," the defense minister told a press conference.
"The country needs deterrent defensive capabilities to enable it to deter China from waging a war against Taiwan, and a purely defensive military would fail to do this," he said.
In fact, Chen reportedly asked the military-run Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology, which is in charge of missile-production programs, to accelerate development of the country's strategic missiles since he first took office in 2000.
Last May, Lee Jye told the legislature for the first time that the military is building a strategic missile force.
That June, local newspapers reported that the military had successfully tested a 6,00km-range cruise missile, the Hsiung Feng II-E, which is similar to the US-made Tomahawk cruise missile, in Pingtung County.
The reports said the military had decided to deploy the Hsiung Feng II-E missiles as soon as possible after the missiles go into production, because of the increasing threat from China.
The military believes that cities in southeastern China and more than 20 of China's main military bases in the southwest would be within the range of the missiles, the papers said.
Chen is satisfied with the military's achievement on missile programs, according to the newspaper reports.
But despite Chen's apparent confidence in Lee Jye, some see the appointment of National Security Council (NSC) deputy secretary-general Ko Cheng-heng (柯承亨) to be deputy minister of national defense as a sign that Chen wants to become more involved in military affairs.
Ko, 45, has worked for Chen for nearly two decades. He is the president's most important aide on military affairs, having helped Chen dig into military scandals when the president was a legislator in the 1990s.
Ko was named a senior advisor to the security council after Chen became president and became deputy secretary-general of the council in 2002.
Ko kept a low-profile while serving on the NSC but his new post will require him to face the legislature.
"Chen's closest aide in the ministry will help him learn more about the military, and also promote better communications between the two agencies," Lee Wen-chung said.
He said Ko's six years of experience of attending security discussions between Washington and Taipei would help the defense ministry communicate with its US counterpart, the lawmaker said.
However, as one of a few civilian officials in the ministry, Lee Wen-chung said Ko would what face he said was the military's sycophantic and deceitful culture. Civilian officials still face challenges in trying to the military, he said.
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