China has not deployed new missiles

Contrary to a report in the Washington Times, China has not increased the number of short-range ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan Deputy Defense Minister for Armament Chen Chao-ming (陳肇敏) said yesterday.

"Intelligence information shows that China has merely resupplied spare parts for the Dong Feng-11 short-range ballistic missiles already deployed in Yongan, Fujian," Chen said.

Chen made the remarks yesterday at a meeting of the defense committee of the legislature in response to inquiries from an opposition party lawmaker over a report on Tuesday by the Washington Times, that China has deployed an additional 20 Dong Feng-11 missiles to Yongan over the past three weeks.

The Washington Times, quoting anonymous intelligence sources, said that the 20 new Dong Feng-11 missiles would bring the number of short-range ballistic missiles deployed across the Taiwan Strait to 350. The number would then increase to 650 by 2005, the report said.

The Washington Times report caught the attention of local Chinese-language newspapers, most of which printed translations of the article in yesterday's editions.

Asked to comment on the report, Chen offered the military's intelligence assessment of the matter. The military intelligence agency did not find any new Dong Feng-11 missiles deployed to Yongan in recent weeks.

Also at yesterday's defense committee meeting, Chen conceded that the army's Patriot PAC-II PLUS air defense missile system has limited missile defense capabilities.

"Despite that fact, we are building an early warning data bank for the Patriot system to enhance its missile defense capabilities. The data includes the trajectory of ballistic missiles in China's inventory as well as their impact points," Chen said.

A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the military is still interested in buying the Patriot PAC-III system, although the system hasn't been fully tested.

"We can't make the final decision until the Patriot PAC-III system has passed all the tests prior to production, " the official said.

The military relies on the Patriot PAC-II Plus system and domestically-made Tien Kung I and II air defense missile systems.

The military-run Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology is developing a low-altitude missile defense system on its own.