The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday refused to comment on a report in US-based Defense News the previous day that claimed that Taiwan was developing a new type of anti-ship cruise missile.
In a report titled “Taiwan Anti-Ship Missile Plan Place China’s Navy in Cross Hairs,” Defense News said that an unnamed Taiwanese defense industry source had informed it that the Taiwanese military was planning to build an extended-range anti-ship missile, possibly a variant of the Hsiung Feng III (HF-3) “Brave Wind” -surface-to-surface missile.
Once developed, the military would deploy the new missile on the eastern side of Taiwan and direct it across the Taiwan Strait at the Chinese coast, it said.
The 300km range HF-3, designed by the Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST, 中山科學研究院), was first unveiled in 2007. At the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in August last year, the missile was advertised as an “aircraft carrier killer,” widely seen at the time as an attempt to send a strong signal to China as it prepared to launch its first aircraft carrier, the refurbished Varyag, which is expected to enter service on Aug. 1.
Taiwan test-fired a HF-3 into the Pacific Ocean southeast of Taiwan in the middle of June last year.
Citing the same source, the journal said that as part of a program codenamed Hsiang Yang, the HF-3s were deployed on board the nation’s eight Cheng Kung frigates. Another unnamed source at the ministry told Defense News there was no Hsiang Yang program, but said there were plans to deploy the anti-ship missile on both coasts, while denying an extended-range program was in the works.
Ministry spokesman David Lo (羅紹和) refused to comment on the report yesterday, adding that the ministry remained committed to defense strategies aimed at safeguarding the country. It is standard policy for the ministry not to comment on programs.
In addition to the HF-3, the military is also deploying shore-based HF-2 anti-ship missiles along its west coast, as well as air and ship-launched Harpoon missiles. Some of those missiles are equipped with coastal suppression systems that can hit land targets along the Chinese coast, the article said.
As the Taipei Times reported in February, the Taiwanese navy’s two Dutch-built Hailung-class submarines are being outfitted with UGM-84L Harpoon anti-ship missiles — the first time Taiwanese submarines will have the capability of firing missiles.
According to Defense News, China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy is especially vulnerable to submarine attacks, given its weak anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
Additional reporting by CNA, with translation by Stacy Hsu
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait share a political foundation based on the “1992 consensus” and opposition to Taiwanese independence, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today said during her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Both sides of the Strait should plan and build institutionalized and sustainable mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation based on that foundation to make peaceful development across the Strait irreversible, she said. Peace is a shared moral value across the Strait, and both sides should move beyond political confrontation to seek institutionalized solutions to prevent war, she said. Mutually beneficial cross-strait relations are what the
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
RSS