Taiwan's premier said Saturday that a government plan to spend billions of dollars on U.S. weapons would help the island defend itself if rival China attacked, as thousands of protesters marched in the capital to denounce the deal. The government wants to buy $18 billion worth of arms, including anti-missile systems, planes and diesel-electric submarines. Beijing opposes the sale of arms to Taiwan and has asked the United States to drop the deal. On Saturday, thousands of protesters marched through pouring rain in the streets of Taipei, describing the deal as the start of a wasteful arms race. "Spending taxpayers' money on weapons is not going to buy us security," said Eddie Shao, a 47-year-old accountant. He said Taiwan should do more instead to improve relations with China.
| A lack of weapons won't help with security either. |
But Premier Yu Shyi-kun, Taiwan's No. 3 leader, said the weapons were necessary to maintain the balance of power with China, located across the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait. "You fire 100 missiles at me, I fire 50 at you. You hit Taipei and Kaohsiung, I at least hit Shanghai," Yu said, mentioning Taiwan and China's most populated cities. Government officials have warned that Beijing's aggressive arms buildup will tilt the military balance in favor of China as soon as 2005, and Yu compared the situation with the "balance of terror" between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Taiwan's legislature is expected to vote on the arms purchase next month, and the government has been involved in a tough battle for public support. Since neither the ruling party nor opposition hold a strong majority in the legislature, the outcome of the vote is difficult to predict. |
