A top national security official yesterday said China had begun deploying a new long-range ballistic missile aimed at Taiwan, adding that the missile’s destructive capacity went beyond that of the current missiles in China’s arsenal.
National Security Bureau (NSB) Director Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) told the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee that in addition to deploying the Dong Feng-16 (DF-16), the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was also now fielding the DF-21, also known as the “aircraft carrier killer,” which could put any US Navy vessels coming to Taiwan’s assistance at great risk.
Asked by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) whether the DF-16 was a completely new type of missile or a derivative of earlier Dong Feng types, Tsai said it was a whole new type.
“It’s more powerful, advanced and has a greater range than older types of Dong Feng missiles,” he said.
POTENTIAL TARGETS
Tsai said that while the DF-16 targeted Taiwan, it could also be used against other countries in the region. Those comments echoed a recent report by the non-profit global policy think tank Rand Corp on the Chinese ballistic missile threat, which listed Okinawa and Guam as potential targets. Both are home to large US military bases.
Testing of the DF-16 has been completed and the missile has been deployed, he said.
At present, China’s main arsenal threatening Taiwan consists of DF-11 and DF-15 short-range ballistic missiles based in Southeast China, with a range of 300km and 800km respectively.
Asked to comment on the possibility of the new deployment, Wendell Minnick, Asia Bureau chief for Defense News, said he suspected the DF-16 may be a DF-15 with extended range, adding that he found it very hard to believe that the US would not have noticed such a deployment.
SURPRISED
Turning to the DF-21, Lin said he was surprised to hear Tsai claim the DF-21 had been deployed.
Western countries have assessed that the PLA would need at least a decade before it could deploy the DF-21, because the technology required to hit a moving target at sea represents a substantial challenge, Lin said, adding that he was not aware of the DF-21 having been tested.
Tsai said that while Western countries relied on surveillance satellites to gather information on China’s weapons development, the bureau had a long-term focus on the development of human intelligence — that is, spies — to gather information.
US defense analysts estimate the DF-21 has a range of between 1,995km and 2,993km. Many commentators have called it a potential “game changer” that could threaten the US carrier fleet’s supremacy in the Pacific, a contention that remains disputed.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY J. MICHAEL COLE AND CNA
CHAMPIONS: President Lai congratulated the players’ outstanding performance, cheering them for marking a new milestone in the nation’s baseball history Taiwan on Sunday won their first Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) title in 29 years, as Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School defeated a team from Las Vegas 7-0 in the championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was Taiwan’s first championship in the annual tournament since 1996, ending a nearly three-decade drought. “It has been a very long time ... and we finally made it,” Taiwan manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) said after the game. Lai said he last managed a Dong Yuan team in at the South Williamsport in 2015, when they were eliminated after four games. “There is
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have declared they survived recall votes to remove them from office today, although official results are still pending as the vote counting continues. Although final tallies from the Central Election Commission (CEC) are still pending, preliminary results indicate that the recall campaigns against all seven KMT lawmakers have fallen short. As of 6:10 pm, Taichung Legislators Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) and Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), Hsinchu County Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘), Nantou County Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) and New Taipei City Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) had all announced they
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday visited Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), as the chipmaker prepares for volume production of Nvidia’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) chips. It was Huang’s third trip to Taiwan this year, indicating that Nvidia’s supply chain is deeply connected to Taiwan. Its partners also include packager Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品精密) and server makers Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Quanta Computer Inc (廣達). “My main purpose is to visit TSMC,” Huang said yesterday. “As you know, we have next-generation architecture called Rubin. Rubin is very advanced. We have now taped out six brand new
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant