China is adding at least 75 ballistic missiles a year to its arsenal and is likely to have fielded 600 against Taiwan by 2005, the Pentagon's Taiwan desk officer said in remarks made public on Thursday.
"Taiwan faces the most daunting conventional ballistic missile threat in the world," said Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Mark Stokes, the Pentagon official.
Stokes made his remarks to a privately organized, closed-door US-Taiwan defense industry conference held in San Antonio, Texas, from Feb. 12 to Feb. 14. A copy of his presentation was made available to reporters by the Pentagon.
At the conference, Bush administration officials urged Taipei to move forward quickly with antimissile systems, notably Lockheed Martin's Patriot PAC-3, to counter the Chinese buildup in the short- and mid-term.
"We urge Taiwan to take steps needed to acquire defensive weapons and systems sufficient to address the ever increasing threat posed by [China]," Randall Schriver, the deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told the conference.
Richard Lawless, who is the Pentagon's top policymaker on the region, said China was working on multiple ways to "coerce" Taiwan and that surprise and speed could render any US military assistance ineffective.
"Taiwan cannot rely on the United States to defend the island against [Chinese] conventional ballistic and land attack cruise missiles, particularly in the opening phases of a conflict," he said.
In addition to its ballistic-missile buildup, Beijing is expected to deploy first-generation cruise missiles designed to attack land targets before 2005, Stokes said.
Beside the Patriot PAC-3 system, another short- to mid-term option for Taipei could be the Arrow missile interceptor, developed jointly by Israel and the US and declared operational in October 2000, Stokes said.
Other options included upgrading the Tien-Jung 2A interceptors, reported to have been tested in 1998, and obtaining surface-launched US-built AMRAAM missiles, he said.
The US is weighing a Taiwanese request for immediate delivery of Raytheon-built AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air missiles purchased in 2000. The missiles were to be stored in the US until or unless China fielded a similar air-to-air system, something it may have since done, US officials have said.
Stokes said Taipei could receive early warning information from space-based sensors, by implication, from US systems.
Other overhead surveillance options included "high altitude/long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles," he said.
But he said missile defense does not "connote an alliance with the United States; nor does it constitute a global/regional organization in which Taiwan can `join.'"
The cost of a "point" defense, which would protect selected critical facilities and areas, need not be "exorbitant," he added.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS