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Taiwan Withdraws Budget for U.S. Arms
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan's Cabinet on Wednesday withdrew a special budget for a massive U.S. weapons package, part of a political maneuver aimed at getting the opposition-controlled legislature to pass the long-delayed package. For more than a year, the opposition Nationalist Party and its allies have used their slim legislative majority to hold up a special $15.3 billion appropriation, saying it will spark an arms race with rival China that would bankrupt Taiwan. Included in the package are eight diesel-powered submarines, 12 anti-submarine aircraft, and six Patriot missile batteries.Cabinet spokesman Cho Jung-tai said the Cabinet would decide next week on a new proposal to finance the weapons, divided between a modified special budget and the regular defense allocation. Cho said the military was still working out the proposal's details. However, he said, the general direction was to move the Patriot missile allocation of more than $3 billion from the special budget to the regular defense budget. Both come from state coffers, but the defense budget carries more rigorous oversight provisions, suggesting the government believes the new transparency will convince the opposition to drop its long-standing objections to the package. Posted by: Steve White 2005-08-25 |
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