May 27, 200521 yr From Jane's Defence Weekly Taipei embroiled in defence budget row By Wendell Minnick JDW Correspondent Taipei The Republic of China (Taiwan) is coming under increased pressure from Washington to resolve internal political debate over a $15.19 billion special budget for 12 P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), six Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) low- to high-altitude air-defence system batteries and eight diesel-electric submarines (SSKs) promised by the Bush administration in 2001. The political battle is being waged within the Legislative Yuan (parliament) between the pro- independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the pro-unification Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). The KMT has successfully blocked the passage of the budget since last year. The US Department of Defense (DoD) has told Taiwan government officials that the much delayed decision to proceed with the purchase must be resolved by the end of May, or the arms deal may be revised or even dropped.
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