International
Taiwan to buy US-made anti-missile system

TAIPEI (AP): Taiwan's main opposition party will vote to approve funding of a U.S.-made anti-missile system for the island's defense after delaying the measure for more than two years, a party leader said on Wednesday.

Caucus whip Tseng Yung-chuan said the Nationalist party had agreed to funding for four units of the Patriot III.

Opposition lawmakers previously had argued that the arms deal would spark an arms race with rival China that could bankrupt Taiwan's economy.

Tseng did not give a reason for his party's change in direction.

Tseng said the allocation was only the beginning of spending on the Patriot system.

``The budget for another two units will be approved after the first four units are installed,'' he said, adding that the budget for the first four units will be passed in a legislative session next Thursday.

The Patriot system is part of a US$16 billion (euro12 billion) U.S. arms package that President Chen Shui-bian's administration wants to acquire to counter an ambitious arms build-up from China.

Taiwan and the mainland split amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing continues to see the island as part of its territory. It has threatened to attack if Taiwan moves to formalize its de facto independence.

Other elements in the arms package are P3 Orion submarine-hunting aircraft and diesel submarines.

In June the Legislature approved spending 6.3 billion New Taiwan dollars (US$190 million; euro140 million) to purchase 12 of the aircraft and to finance a feasibility study as a first step toward purchasing the submarines.

International

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