Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) met yesterday in an effort to hash out an agreement on a controversial arms procurement plan.
They said they will come up with a plan by the end of this week, but will not discuss its details for the moment.
The Executive Yuan in mid-2004 introduced to the legislature a bill to procure three major weapons systems from the US through a special budget. The proposal included eight diesel-electric submarines, 12 P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and three PAC-3 Patriot anti-missile batteries.
But the bill has been blocked more than 45 times by opposition lawmakers, who cite a variety of reasons for opposing the bill. The issue has become a sticking point with the US as well, with numerous officials urging Taiwan to find a solution to the impasse.
"In order to respect our ally's opinions on the arms procurement, we will not address the details of the procurement in our version but just propose a direction," Ma said.
The KMT will not disclose the details of the agreement reached by the party and will only announce the general direction out of respect for the other "pan-blue alliance" members, he said.
The KMT had promised to propose its own version of the weapons purchase plan at the legislature by this month.
Wang agreed with Ma's statement, saying that when other opposition parties get behind the KMT's version of the arms bill, it will be easier for it to gain approval in the legislature.
Ma said the KMT's plan will demonstrate the party's determination to defend the nation, despite not including procurement details.
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