Taiwan opposition can't agree on US arms deal

TAIPEI, Mar 15 (Reuters) Taiwan's opposition lawmakers are divided over whether, or what, to buy from a package of advanced weaponry offered by Washington, dashing hopes for a resolution to end the deadlocked deal any time soon.

The main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), or the Nationalist Party, is widely expected to come up with its own answer to the deal before its chairman Ma Ying-jeou leaves for the United States, Taiwan's main ally and arms supplier, on Sunday.

The delay has fuelled worries in Washington that Taipei is not serious about its own defence. But the KMT said it did not feel any pressure.

''My trip to the United States is not to explain our position on the weapon purchase,'' Ma told reporters on Wednesday. ''It does not serve such a narrow purpose.'' The KMT, which favours closer ties with China, said many lawmakers wanted to shelve the proposal for now after President Chen Shui-bian scrapped a dormant but symbolic body and 15-year-old guidelines on unification with the mainland in February.

The move triggered condemnation from China, which considers Taiwan part of its territory.

''It is true that lawmakers are still divided. We are trying to find a consensus,'' KMT spokeswoman Cheng Li-wen said. ''We also need time to consult with other opposition parties.'' Most KMT lawmakers agreed to give a go-ahead to buy 12 P-3 ''Orion'' anti-submarine aircraft and put aside the purchase of six patriot missile batteries. But they were divided over the offer for eight diesel-electric submarines, party officials said.

US President George W Bush made the offer in 2001 in what would be the biggest arms sales to Taiwan in more than a decade.

But an opposition alliance led by the KMT, which favours closer ties with China and controls a slim majority in parliament, has repeatedly blocked the deal, saying it is expensive, provocative and unnecessary.

Frustrated by the opposition's move, Taiwan's defence ministry was forced to drop a special budget for the purchase.

The ministry now plans to boost its regular budget to account for 2.85 per cent of the gross domestic product in 2007 and 3 per cent in 2008, from 2.4 per cent this year to cover the expense.

China has vowed to bring the self-governed democracy of 23 million people back to the fold -- by force if necessary.

The United States recognises the ''one-China'' policy, but in a deliberately ambiguous piece of foreign policy it is also obliged by law to help Taiwan defend itself.

REUTERS SB RK1225