The National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Hsueh Shih-ming (
Hsueh yesterday offered a national security report to legislators in a closed-door meeting in the legislature, but after the report, the legislators were free for open questioning.
During the question session, People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (
"Whether the missile tested in June was launched from a Type 093 or Type 094, whether it was a JL-1 or JL-2, and whether it was launched from an underwater platform or a submarine were all unclear, so how do you know the Type 094 has passed a test?" asked Lin.
Hsueh did not reply to Lin's questioning.
Lin said the allegation of a successful test flight of the JL-2 from the Type 094 was a Chinese exaggeration of its military capability, but the NSB should be more wary of accepting this kind of intelligence.
military experts
International military experts have paid a lot of attention to the development of the Type 094, which is expected to be launched this year or next.
Military experts have said that the JL-2, which is able to carry multiple warheads, would give China a secure, second-strike nuclear attack capability that it will use to bolster its nuclear strategy of seeking to deter the US from aiding Taiwan in the event of a People's Liberation Army (PLA) attack.
Experts have said the new submarine will make it more difficult for the US military to take part in a defense of Taiwan because of the threat of nuclear retaliation.
According to a 1999 report by the US House Select Committee on US National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China, the JL-2 is expected to have a longer range than the DF-31 and 16 JL-2s will be deployed on the Type 094 submarine.
The range of the JL-2 is estimated to be about 12,000km, enough "to strike targets throughout the US," the report said.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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