Taiwan is to develop a non-lethal graphite bomb designed to disable China's power supplies, reports said yesterday.
Should war break out, the so-called "blackout bombs" would be carried by Hsiung Feng II-E cruise missiles to paralyze power grids in China's southeastern coastal cities, the Chinese-language United Daily News said.
The bombs work by sprinkling a cloud of chemically treated carbon fibers over power supplies, causing them to short-circuit, but without killing people, the report said.
If approved, the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology -- the nation's top weapons research unit -- would begin research and development of the weaponry, at a cost of up to NT$500 million (US$15.34 million), beginning next year, the report said.
The Ministry of Defense declined to comment on the claims.
Reports said the US used the graphite bomb against Iraq in the Gulf War in 1991, wiping out 85 percent of its electrical supply. A similar version was used by NATO against Serbia in 1999.
Rocky relations between Taiwan and China look set to continue after President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) dismissed an offer of a peace treaty with China, saying it would be like agreeing to "a treaty of surrender."
Speaking to the International Herald Tribune last week, Chen said that China's call for the signing of a peace agreement with Taipei under the "one China" principle was made in terms that made it unacceptable.
Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Taiwan flexed its military muscle earlier this month, showing off two domestically developed missiles during the Double Ten National Day military parade seen as a reminder to China that it has the means to defend itself.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
China has reserved offshore airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts that are usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. The alerts, known as notice to air missions (NOTAMs), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert
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