A Washington-based think tank said China was in the process of significantly expanding its ballistic missile infrastructure opposite Taiwan, a development that is occurring despite extensive efforts by US President Barack Obama’s administration to persuade Beijing to scale back the missiles it has aimed at Taiwan.
Mark Stokes, executive director of the Project 2049 Institute, a think tank that focuses on the Asia-Pacific, said the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Second Artillery base is growing rapidly.
The PLA has formed its first unit equipped with anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) systems, and the Second Artillery is investing in a new generation of conventional medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBM) and is also incorporating two ballistic missile brigades previously under the PLA Army.
In a Web entry published this week, Stokes wrote: “The expansion of the Second Artillery’s infrastructure in Southern and Southeastern China has been driven largely by the PLA’s desire to coerce Taiwan into political settlement on unfavorable terms.”
“The expansion also reflects PLA interest in undercutting the capacity of the United States to assist Taiwan in a conflict against China and enforce other territorial claims around its periphery,” he said.
Stokes, a former US Department of Defense official, says trends suggest that existing short-range ballistic missiles targeting Taiwan could gradually be replaced with MRBM systems with ranges greater than 1,000km.
Extended range ballistic missile systems have higher re-entry speeds that could reduce the effectiveness of Patriot PAC-3 missile defense systems expected to come online in Taiwan over the next few years.
“A relative erosion of Taiwan’s military capabilities could create incentives for Beijing’s political and military leadership to assume greater risk in cross-strait relations,” Stokes wrote.
The “first noteworthy” example of the Second Artillery’s expansion is the apparent deployment of a follow-on variant of the DF-21 MRBM that is capable of engaging moving targets at sea at a range of 1,650km.
All of these new missiles are believed to be at 53 Base, headquartered in Kunming, Yunnan Province and commanded by Major General Zhou Yaning (周亞寧).
“There are indications that two tactical missile brigades under the PLA Army have transferred to the Second Artillery. The Nanjing Military Region’s First Missile Brigade, based in Fujian Province’s Xianyou County, may now be assigned to the Second Artillery’s 52 Base,” Stokes said.
Meanwhile, the Guangzhou Military Region’s Second Missile Brigade, based in Puning City’s Hongyang Village, Guangdong Province, may now be subordinated to 53 Base.
The Second Artillery has also incorporated the brigades’ inventory of unmanned aerial vehicles, which “would be particularly useful in a Taiwan scenario,” he wrote.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique