China has been practicing an attack on Taipei aimed at killing or capturing the country's leaders with a "decapitation" strategy, Premier Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday.
Yu said Beijing began to simulate an attack targeting Taiwan's leaders after the capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein by the US.
"After the Iraq War, China has targeted Taiwan's leaders, Taiwan's capital, and the Presidential Office in its so-called decapitation action," Yu said aboard a plane to Central America after a stopover in Los Angeles, where he met some US congressmembers.
"Their internal discussions and recent drills indicate they have been preparing for such a move," Yu said.
Military spokesman Huang Suey-sheng (
"Communist China has never given up attacking Taiwan, and its current strategy is aimed at winning the war at the first strike," Huang said.
"`Decapitation' is definitely an option for its future military actions against Taiwan," Huang said.
Military experts say China is accelerating its arms build-up in preparation for war, but its 2.5-million-strong People's Liberation Army (PLA) still lacks the necessary amphibious vessels to turn it into a credible invasion force.
Arms Budget
Yu said an US$18 billion arms deal was vital to the nation's defense in the face of China's growing military threat and confirmed that Taiwan may be able to cut the cost by about US$3 billion.
The three-year-old arms deal, which includes eight diesel-electric submarines, six PAC-3 anti-missile systems and 12 P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, would be the US' biggest weapons sale to Taiwan in a decade. But lawmakers have complained about the price tag.
Yu said that it would be difficult for Taiwan to acquire submarine-building know-how as a prerequisite for securing any submarine, as the US has expressed its opposition to the notion of Taiwan building its own submarines with technologies provided by the US.
Against this backdrop, Yu said, Taiwan should not continue to insist on securing submarine-building technologies and, instead, should try to bargain down the overall price tag by about NT$100 billion (US$3 billion) for the submarines that the US has promised to sell to Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense should also try to seek the transfer of submarine maintenance technology together with the implementation of the submarine procurement plan, Yu said.
Yu, traveling as the head of an official delegation, arrived in the Dominican Republic capital of Santo Domingo Saturday evening to a warm welcome from members of the Taiwanese community in the Caribbean country.
Yu is scheduled to attend the inauguration of President-elect Leonel Fernandez Reyna today on behalf of President Chen Shui-bian (
During the flight to the Dominican Republic, Yu spent time talking with members of the media on a wide range of subjects.
Guggenheim Question
On the issue of the Guggenheim Museum development plan in Taichung City, Yu said that if the plan is in line with all regulations, its budget could be included in the central government's annual budget plan for next year.
Regarding Taichung City Mayor Jason Hu's (
"It is the opposition parties who motioned for the Guggenheim Museum plan not be included," Yu added.
During his stay in Santo Domingo, Yu is also expected to inspect Taiwan's embassy and technical missions stationed in the Caribbean country as well as meet with Taiwanese expatriates.
After concluding his visit to the Dominican Republic, Yu will proceed to Honduras, where he will meet with Honduran President Ricardo Maduro and local business executives, as well as receive a medal from the Honduran parliament.
On the third leg of his 13-day diplomatic tour, Yu will visit Nicaragua, where he will preside over the inauguration of Taiwan-Nicaragua talks on the signing of a free trade agreement to further boost bilateral economic cooperation.
Yu will then fly to New York for a two-day transit stop before returning to Taipei on Aug. 25.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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