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.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
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