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Taiwan remains resolute over US weapon-systems procurement
By Gavin Phipps
06 June 2008
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) has said that recent "goodwill" gestures by Beijing towards the island "do not mean lasting peace across the Taiwan Strait" and that it will continue to develop its own weapons systems and procure high-technology systems from the United States.
Speaking at a Legislative Committee meeting on 4 June, the newly appointed Minister of Defence Chen Chao-min said that "Taiwan's defence build-up and battle readiness remain necessary" and that further military development remained "the basic action [Taiwan] must take".
However, the MND chief said he hoped confidence-building measures could be established in order to avoid an "accidental conflict in the Taiwan Strait" and to achieve a lasting peace accord.
Chen's comments came a week after the 28 May meeting between Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung and China's President Hu Jintao in Beijing, at which China's leadership said that it would be willing to reduce the number of Dong Feng 11 and Dong Feng 15 short-range ballistic missiles - estimated at 1,400 - as well as its 200 cruise missiles targeting Taiwan.