Pingtung, Taiwan, May 10 (CNA) Taiwan is carrying out its military development to build a force strong enough to defend the nation, not to engage in an arms race with mainland China, President Chen Shui-bian said Friday.
Chen said at a missile-firing exercise in southern Taiwan that although the situation in the Taiwan Strait might seem calm, the fact remains that Beijing has never publicly announced its willingness to give up the option of using military force against Taiwan.
The president went on to say that the mainland has been redirecting its newly gained economic success into its military modernization programs in recent years.
Beijing has also been purchasing new weapons and equipment "wantonly" while further deploying M-class missiles across the strait from Taiwan, constituting a "serious threat" to the island's national security, Chen added.
Facing the future global challenges and economic competition, leaders in both Taipei and Beijing should carefully ponder future cross-strait development with forward-looking vision and political wisdom, the president said.
The leaders should also put a stop to "meaningless" cross-strait competition and internal attrition so that they can devote all available resources to economic development for the betterment of the people on both sides of the strait, he added.
Chen also praised the service personnel working for the nation's missile forces, thanking them for providing the first line of security for Taiwan.