National Security Bureau (NSB) Director Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) yesterday said that China’s Type 094 (Jin-class) nuclear-powered missile submarine and the Julang-2 (JL-2) ballistic missile system that the subs are expected to be equipped with have yet to be commissioned.
Tsai made the remarks during a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
China’s Type 094 submarines and Dongfeng-41 missiles (DF-41), which are believed to be capable of carrying three to 10 independently targetable warheads, are still under development, while the JL-2 ballistic missile system is currently being tested.
Those systems have not been commissioned yet, Tsai said in response to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-Fang’s (林郁方) questions on the latest developments in Chinese weaponry.
Saying that China’s defense technology has made impressive progress in recent years, Tsai said he expected the DF-41s would be developed and deployed successfully in the future.
Meanwhile, legislators questioned the Ministry of National Defense’s contingency plans in light of North Korea’s recent bellicose rhetoric.
Lin asked Deputy Minister of National Defense Andrew Yang (楊念祖) whether the US had asked Taiwan to take any action after Pyongyang made its threats.
Yang said that both sides constantly exchange information about the situation on the Korean Peninsula, but the US had not asked Taiwan to make any deployments.
KMT Legislator Wen-Chun (馬文君) asked whether the military’s Patriot missile systems were ready to be activated in an emergency.
Major General Caleb Po (柏關忠) said the systems are operationally capable, but that no missiles had been moved from their bases or relocated to a frontal area.
Asked if the nation’s long-range early-warning radar system could track North Korean missiles and if radar units would communicate with Patriot missile units or the Heng Shan (橫山) Military Command Center in the event of a crisis, Yang said that in such an event, Heng Shan would be informed and would issue the appropriate orders.
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