DPP to blame for arms delay: Lien

“Lien Chan emphasized the DPP administration for a long time had been providing the American side with incorrect information and the blocking of the arms deal was created by actions taken by the DPP,” said KMT spokeswoman Cheng Li-wen.

“After the DPP took power, Taiwan’s financial system and economy suffered a huge blow and currently it seems as if the arms deal has surpassed the scope of (financial burdens) the nation can shoulder,” Tseng quoted Lien as saying.

Schriver, who just stepped down as U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for a four day visit at the invitation of President Chen Shui-bian.

Chinese language media reports quoted Schriver as saying to the press before his closed-door meeting with Lien that the billion dollar arms deal was vital for the island’s self-defense. “I hope it is handled as soon as possible,” Schriver said, according to a Chinese language report from the government-funded Central News Agency.

“I also hope the KMT will take this arms deal seriously, no matter who is elected party chairman,” CNA quoted Schriver as saying.

Lien said the KMT for a long time had supported a policy of Taiwan having sufficient self-defense capabilities and thanked the U.S. for its support and assistance.

But he said the DPP’s handling of the arms deal had been slap dash. He said the initial price tag for the package anti-missile systems, anti-submarine aircraft and diesel electric submarines at first was NT$208 million. The next year, the price was raised to NT$408 million before its final asking price of NT610.8 million.

“During this process, they never once gave a believable explanation for this, creating antipathy and a backlash in the public,” Lien said.

The KMT chairman said the DPP also had not created the budget for the arms deal lawfully, making the budget difficult to get approval in the Legislature.

He said there were so many dubious legal points about the deal and it surpassed the nation’s financial capacities, yet whenever it failed to get legislative approval, the ruling party pushed all the blame on the opposition. This created bad feeling between politicians, making cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties difficult to achieve.

In response, William Lai, convener of the DPP legislative caucus, dismissed Lien’s remarks as “irresponsible.” “It is the opposition, the KMT and People First Party, that had repeatedly blocked the arms deal budget, despite the fact the government had make revisions to it several times,” he said.

Also, when Schriver asked Lien about a potential meeting between President Chen Shui-bian and Chinese President Hu Jintao, Lien said it would be difficult as President Chen did not acknowledge the so-called 92 consensus.

The “92 consensus” is an oral agreement supposedly made between Taipei and Beijing in 1992 that there is “one China but each side is allowed to have its own interpretation of this.

The ruling DPP, unlike China and the opposition, claims this consensus never existed and is a fabrication of the KMT’s.

Lien said the KMT supported dialogue and peace talks with China — but said this could not happen without a mutual framework for Taipei and Beijing to work with.

The KMT chairman said his party felt the ‘92 consensus provided a suitable basis for talks.

He said he hoped Schriver would warn the DPP that Taiwan independence was not at all feasible, Cheng said. “It is one thing to use it as an election campaign slogan and another to use it as a basis for national policies,” Cheng quoted Lien as saying to the former U.S. official.

“Taiwan independence will bring extreme disaster on the country and is a dead end.”

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