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TAIWAN
Taipei's nuclear plans questioned
There is growing concern about possible nuclear weapons' activity in Taiwan, a respected U.S. analyst said Oct. 15, after a Taiwanese lawmaker asked in Parliament if the government was conducting secret arms planning.
According to a report on the Web site of the Taipei Times, People First Party legislator Nelson Ku said Oct. 12, "Is there a five-person team, including active and past members from the current administration, planning the development of nuclear weapons?"
Premier Yu Shyi-kun denied that Taiwan was developing nuclear weapons, the Times said.
David Albright, president of the Washington, D.C., think tank Institute for Science and International Security, said that in U.S. circles "there is concern that Taiwan may be planning nuclear weapons or thinking about it, particularly after the comment in the Taiwanese Parliament. And there is a buzz about Taiwan, about what they might be up to."
Albright has reported since 1997 on Taiwan after revealing in that year new information about Taiwan's efforts to acquire nuclear weapons through the 1980s.
The Japan Times Weekly: Oct. 23, 2004 (C) All rights reserved
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