Taiwan is not a US colony so it's none of Washington's business, say lawmakers
Lawmakers in Taiwan yesterday reacted angrily to the US warning against cancelling a multibillion- dollar arms deal, saying the island would make its own decision about buying weapons.
Richard Lawless, a deputy undersecretary at the US Defence Department, said on Monday that there would be repercussions if Taiwan failed to approve the NT$610 billion (HK$140 billion) arms-purchase budget.
Yesterday, Defence Minister Lee Jye stopped short of criticising Mr Lawless but said he wished the American official had not made the comment.
At a legislative session yesterday, People First Party lawmaker Lin Yu-fang, a military expert and a professor on international strategy, shouted: 'American officials shut up. The Republic of China is not an American colony. Whether or not it will buy the weapons is none of their business. It's in our own interest and needs on what kind of weapons we should buy.'
Mr Lin said that between 1996 and last year, Taiwan bought NT$660 billion worth of weapons from the US, making it America's second-largest arms buyer after Saudi Arabia.
