The Presidential Office yesterday skirted speculation that the military has stopped developing offensive long-range missiles, but emphasized that Taiwan would not start a conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
The remarks came after a report by the Chinese-language China Times yesterday said the military had test-fired an advanced Hsiung Feng missile with a range of 800km in January, but had now halted work on it in line with President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) attempts to improve relations with China.
The Hsiung Feng IIE surface-to-surface cruise missile is a program that was started during the former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration.
RELIABLE SOURCES
The China Times report quoted “reliable sources” in the armed forces as saying that the military had planned to develop a model with a range of 1,000km, which would put Shanghai within its range.
However, they decided to halt the plans, taking into consideration improved cross-strait relations and a shift in military strategy to a more defensive stance.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) yesterday said the media should ask the Ministry of National Defense (MND) why it had decided to cease development of the missiles.
“The president’s defense policy is clear,” Wang said. “We will not take the initiative to attack, nor will we attack any non-military facilities.”
When asked whether the halt in development work was a gesture of goodwill toward Beijing, Wang said it would only help the country’s long-term development if cross-strait relations were to improve.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Shuai Hua-ming (帥化民) yesterday said Taiwan should go ahead with plans to develop the missiles.
“Because the mainland keeps developing missiles with higher precision and longer ranges, we must keep up our weapons programs intact,” Shuai, an influential retired army general, said.
Taiwan reportedly test-fired a Hsiung Feng IIE missile with a range of 600km in October 2004, but the military has never displayed or deployed it.
Shuai said Ma has yet to present a clear, plausible defense strategy even as he pursues a vaguely defined peace treaty with China.
BUDGET
Last week, the military proposed a defense budget for next year of NT$395.3 billion (US$12.5 billion), a decline of NT$53.9 billion (US$1.7 billion) from the previous year.
In response to the China Times report, the MND yesterday released a press statement, saying only that developing domestic-made weapons is in line with policy to protect the homeland.
The MND also said it “would not use weapons to attack civilian targets.”
Meanwhile, Wang yesterday dismissed speculation that Ma and the MND were inconsistent on the number of weapons the country is seeking to buy from the US.
While the MND has said that the US Congress is to review an eight-item purchase plan, Ma said on Saturday that all signs indicated that the White House would soon ask Congress to complete legal procedures for seven items that Taiwan has requested from Washington.
Wang said Ma and the MND only “talked about the same thing from different angles.”
Wang said the seven items Ma mentioned referred to the weapons the US Congress would agree to sell, while the eight items were what Taiwan would like to purchase from the US.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
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