President Chen Shui-bian (
The comments were made during visits to the military-run Chunshan Institute of Science and Technology (CIST) and the Army General Headquarters, both based in Taoyuan, as part of his post-inauguration military inspection tour that began on June 28.
Chen, accompanied by Vice President Annette Lu (
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, LIBERTY TIMES
Weapons falling into this category include short-range and medium-range surface-to-surface missiles (SSMs), anti-ballistic missile (ATBM) systems, supersonic anti-ship missiles and vertically-launched anti-aircraft missiles.
Within this category, only the short-range and medium-range SSMs are fully developed, with the rest still being at various stages of development.
An official with the CIST, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the short-range SSM is capable of hitting targets along China's coastline and that the medium-range missile can reach further inland.
"These two weapons can be quite effective in establishing the capability of enforcing President Chen's policy of full--scale engagement with the enemy outside Taiwan's territory," the official said.
But the official declined to reveal what kinds of warheads can be used on the two types of SSMs. After spending about one hour at the CIST in the morning, Chen went on to visit the nearby Army General Headquarters, where he delivered a policy- and mission-specific speech on the future arms build-up.
"In recent years, China has actively upgraded its military prowess. Its intention to invade Taiwan has never been more obvious," Chen said. "Considering the narrow Taiwan Strait, the distinction between front line and the rear is pretty vague. We must therefore attend to armed preparations in areas surrounding Taiwan," he said.
"By 2005, the army is expected to reach the goal of full combat readiness. By that time, it will be a completely new force, which features combined ground and air combat capabilities, strong armored resistance power and an automated C4I [command, control, communications, computer and intelligence] system," Chen said.
By "full combat readiness," an army official explained, Chen means a capability to acquire all needed weapons and operate them at their full capacity in combat. Currently the army has to make the best use of available weapons because it is unable to get items it really wants.
"Chen may be suggesting that by 2005, the army will get and operate all the weapons it thinks it will need for defense against invasion attempts by China," the official said.
Chen also urged the army to focus on the advancement of joint-services operations, which he said are a very important indicator of a country's military power. Joint-services operations refer to the ability of the three forces -- the army, navy and air force -- to integrate their operations.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
EMBRACING TAIWAN: US lawmakers have introduced an act aiming to replace the use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ with ‘Taiwan’ across all Washington’s federal agencies A group of US House of Representatives lawmakers has introduced legislation to replace the term “Chinese Taipei” with “Taiwan” across all federal agencies. US Representative Byron Donalds announced the introduction of the “America supports Taiwan act,” which would mandate federal agencies adopt “Taiwan” in place of “Chinese Taipei,” a news release on his page on the US House of Representatives’ Web site said. US representatives Mike Collins, Barry Moore and Tom Tiffany are cosponsors of the legislation, US political newspaper The Hill reported yesterday. “The legislation is a push to normalize the position of Taiwan as an autonomous country, although the official US
CHANGE OF TONE: G7 foreign ministers dropped past reassurances that there is no change in the position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including ‘one China’ policies G7 foreign ministers on Friday took a tough stance on China, stepping up their language on Taiwan and omitting some conciliatory references from past statements, including to “one China” policies. A statement by ministers meeting in Canada mirrored last month’s Japan-US statement in condemning “coercion” toward Taiwan. Compared with a G7 foreign ministers’ statement in November last year, the statement added members’ concerns over China’s nuclear buildup, although it omitted references to their concerns about Beijing’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. Also missing were references stressing the desire for “constructive and stable relations with China” and
RSS