The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said it was unable to confirm local media reports that China had test-fired its newly-acquired Sunburn anti-ship missile last week in the East China Sea.
MND spokesman Major General Huang Sui-sheng (黃穗生) said the chances of the test-firing having happened as reported were not high as there was insufficient evidence to confirm the reports.
"If China had launched the missile test, it would have enforced precautionary measures such as warm-ups for the test, dispatch of aircraft and ships to cordon off the test area, and an announcement of the test area," Huang said.
"The Chinese navy will usually take these measures when test-firing any weapon at a range of over 30km. We did not find any of these measures being enforced at the time the Sunburn was reported to have been launched over the East China Sea," he said.
"The precautionary measures are absolutely necessary for the test-firing of a weapon like the Sunburn. The missile has a range of 120km," he said.
Huang made the remarks yesterday at a regular press conference of the MND as part of his response to media inquiries about a Hong Kong newspaper report that China had successfully tested a Sunburn missile to hit a target 120km away on Feb. 15 in the East China Sea.
The Sunburn was believed to have launched from one of the two new Sovremenny-class destroyers, which China had bought from Russia. The missile, also a Russian product, is widely considered to be the most lethal of its kind in the world.
"We believe China bought the Sunburn mainly to use against aircraft carriers. It is a supersonic missile with high explosive power," Huang said.
He suggested that China does not need to use the Sunburn against Taiwan, as the country does not have aircraft carriers.
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