Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (
Tang issued the warning in a speech he gave at the CKS Memorial Hall on defense issues -- his first public address since taking office.
Tang cited two examples to explain how serious he thinks the new threat is -- first, sorties into the Taiwan Strait by the Su-30 fighter planes that China bought from Russia and second, the first-ever sail by of the east coast by a Chinese warship sailing from Qingdao to Hainan island in mid-October.
"We have found that China's Su-30s have started to fly into the Taiwan Strait. These advanced fighter planes are based in Anhui Province. China is also deploying Su-27 fighters in Guangdong Province," Tang said.
"These fighters have long-range strike capabilities. They will become more of a threat if they get refueled in mid-air. China is eager to build refueling planes," he said. "The threat is very serious, isn't it?" Tang said, adding that he was not trying to scare people.
His speech was the first time the military has publicly discussed flights by Su-30s over the Strait.
Opposition parties criticized Tang for "crying wolf" the first time he announced that a Chinese warship had sailed past the eastern coastline en route to Hainan.
When he brought up the voyage again yesterday he said, "It means that the east of the island is no longer a safe haven."
Tang went on to say that the ministry is firm in its support of the navy's purchase of four Kidd-class destroyers from the US.
"With the growing threat from China from both the sea and air, we do need to buy the Kidds. It took us three years to evaluate how much we need the Kidds," he said.
He criticized those lawmakers who are still opposed to the Kidds purchase even though the military has tried hard to explain its reasons for buying the vessels.
"It is good to have debates on defense issues. We hoped the debates would help the truth come out. But it did not happen as we expected," Tang said.
"The opposing people refused to understand what we explained to them. They just wanted us to listen to them. If this is the so-called democracy, we would rather not have it," he said.
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