Taiwan may cut military presence on offshore islands

Jun 3, 2009, 6:18 GMT

   Taipei - Taiwan may cut by half its military presence on three offshore islands in the Taiwan Strait, a newspaper said Wednesday, but the Defence Ministry said the move has nothing to do with the thaw in Taipei-Beijing relations.

   The Liberty Times quoted an unnamed military source as saying that Taiwan plans to cut by half its troops on the Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu islands.

   The move would leave only 10,000 troops on the islands. The official reason for the troop reduction is to boost military defence on Taiwan proper, as the defence on Taiwan proper has been weakened following several troop reductions.

   The troop reduction on the three islands is pending approval from President Ma Ying-jeou, the source was quoted as saying.

   However, Deputy Defence Minister Chang Liang-jen denied that the planned troop cut on the Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu islands is related to eased cross-strait tension.

   'This isn't the issue of troop reduction, only the issue of adjustment of military structure, and that adjustment is part of he four-year military review submitted by the Defence Ministry to the parliament on March 16,' he said.

   Kinmen and Matsu are Taiwan-held islets off China's south-east coast.

   In the 1950s, Taiwan kept some 125,000 troops on Kinmen and Matsu to block Chinese troops from seizing the two islets as stepping stones to recover Taiwan.

   The less-sensitive Penghu (Pescadores) Islands are a group of 64 islets halfway between Taiwan and China.