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China missile base stirs reaction from Taiwan lawmakers

Taipei yesterday warned Beijing that it faced "grave" consequences if force were used against the island following reports China had completed a new missile base opposite Taiwan.

A US spy satellite has located the missile base as being several kilometers northeast of Xianyou in China's southeastern Fujian province, about 216km from Taiwan, The Washington Times reported on Thursday.

It said about 100 CSS-7 short-range ballistic missiles and mobile launchers were deployed there.

"The negative impact of using military means to handle cross-strait issues is serious," said Lin Chong-pin (林中斌), vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council.

"If Beijing launched the missiles, the price would be very high and the damage would be grave."

Military means were "counterproductive," he said, and the "hurt to the feelings of people from both sides cannot be repaired."

The Washington Times report came ahead of the annual US-Taiwan arms talks, expected in April in Washington.

China's air force and naval power is expected to catch up with Taiwan in 2005, as China continues its double-digit growth in defense spending each year, Lin said.

China's use of cruise missiles and electronic warfare to paralyze the island is the most worrisome, he added.

"I don't think it's any secret that China is modernizing its military, and that includes increasing the size of its missile force," said Rear Admiral Craig Quigley, a senior Pentagon spokesman, on Thursday.

The Pentagon is weighing a Taiwanese request for advanced weapons, including Aegis destroyers and PAC-3 defenses against short-range missiles.

The base near Xianyou was the second CSS-7 missile base within range of Taiwan and the first CSS-7 base was completed last year near Yongan, The Washington Post said.

Another missile base, the regional headquarters of all missile forces, was located further north at Leping of Jiangxi province, it said. About 100 CSS-6 missiles have been deployed there.

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