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PRC must do more than move missiles: minister

Minister of National Defense Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) yesterday responded to speculation that China would announce plans to remove half of the missiles it has aimed at Taiwan on May 20, the inauguration of president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), saying only that removing and destroying ballistic missiles were two different issues.

Most of China’s missiles are mobile, which means that even if they were removed from Fujian Province to Sichuan Province, they could be redeployed just as quickly, Tsai said.

If China really wants to offer a gesture of good will, simply repositioning the missiles would fall short, Tsai said.

Tsai said that in addition to the 1,400 short range missiles aimed at Taiwan, China also had long range ground to ground missiles with a range of 1,000km to 2,000km, and some missiles with a range up to 8,000km.

Military officials have said that each of China’s missile units has more than one launch position. These positions are connected by road networks, allowing for quick repositioning.

Officials have also said that it is very difficult to differentiate between live launch sites and dummy sites.

The missiles are transported on wheeled mobile launch vehicles, which means that they can be moved quickly by road. This means that missile units that are out of firing range from Taiwan can be moved within range in a matter of half a day, officials said.

Even if China were to remove half of its missiles, officials said, there would still be up to 700 missiles aimed at Taiwan.

Monitoring the movement of missile units could help predict an attack by China, officials said.

Ma has said he will maintain the “status quo” in cross-strait relations, but would like to negotiate with Beijing on “normalizing economic ties, signing a peace treaty and increasing Taiwan’s presence in the international community.”

Ma also said after winning the election that he would ask China to dismantle the ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan as a condition to entering into cross-strait peace negotiations.
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