US Calls Taiwanese Missiles Destabilizing, Offers Its Own Instead

SINO DAILY

File image of a missile battery in Taiwan.

by Staff Writers
Hong Kong (RIA Novosti) May 08, 2007
The U.S. is trying to discourage Taiwan from acquiring missile technology capable of threatening mainland China, the Taiwanese media said Friday. Stephen Young, director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the de facto U.S. representative office on the breakaway island, said the U.S. has urged Taiwan to acquire defensive, not offensive, weapons, fearing that this would encourage mainland China to invade Taiwan.

Young's claim that a medium-range Taiwanese missile would be a "destabilizing factor" comes after the Republic of China's Defense Minister Lee Jye claimed Taiwan was developing its own missiles with a range beyond the width of the Taiwan Straight (maximum 180 km) that separates it from mainland China.

Young also expressed U.S. frustration at the fact that the Taiwanese parliament has been obstructing an $18 billion purchase of U.S. weapons for the sixth year in a row, the opposition complaining that the some of the proposed weapons were inappropriate and over priced.

Since 1949, the Taiwan-based democratic Republic of China has claimed independence from the communist mainland, supported by security guarantees from, though not formal diplomatic relations with, the U.S. The People's Republic of China officially considers Taiwan its province and has warned that it would use force if Taiwan were to formally proclaim independence.

Of the little that is known about Taiwan's missile capabilities, it is certain that currently Taiwan operates only anti-ship missiles. It is believed it also has its own unsophisticated 120-km surface-to-surface missiles. The development of longer-range missiles in the 1990s was dropped for technical reasons.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Email This Article

Related Links
China News from SinoDaily.com

SINO DAILY

Al Gore Urges Chinese Technology Entrepreneurs To Champion Environment

Santa Clara (AFP) May 03, 2007
With a blend of dark humor and dire predictions, former US vice president Al Gore called on Chinese technology entrepreneurs to champion the environment in their prospering homeland. Gore, who won an Academy Award for his global warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," made the plea at a Hua Yuan Science and Technology Association's conference in the California city of Santa Clara on Wednesday.

ENERGY TECH Stepping Up Efforts To Push Through IPI Gas Project Duke Energy Adds Energy Efficiency To Nuclear, Coal, Natural Gas And Renewables New Layered-Layered Materials For Rechargeable Lithium Batteries China Taps North Korea Resources	CIVIL NUCLEAR Bush Rings Manmohan To Discuss Nuclear Deal And WTO Talks Thorium Reactors Integral To Indian Energy Independence Russia Ready To Modernize Slovakia Nuclear Facilities Nuclear Storm Gathers As Climate Change Experts Meet
BLUE SKY Widespread Twilight Zone Detected Around Clouds Rand Says Further Study Warranted On Save The World Air Technology Noxious Lightning AIM Heads For Orbit	WOOD PILE Indigenous Groups Seek Millions From Credit Suisse Over Timber Deal Indonesia Fastest Forest Clearer In World WHRC Scientists Creating National Biomass And Carbon Datas How To Manage Forests In Hurricane Impact Zones
FARM NEWS New Knowledge Improves Rice Quality Plant Pathologists Fighting Global Threat To Wheat Supply Light Sticks May Lure Turtles To Fishing Lines Thai Scientists Fear Global Warming Could Empty World Rice Bowl	CAR TECH China Automobile Dream A Nightmare For Climate Change Driverless Car Goes On Show In London Made In USA Losing Cachet Technique Creates Metal Memory And Could Lead To Vanishing Dents
AEROSPACE Australia Fears Jet Flight Guilt Could Hit Tourism Nondestructive Testing Keeps Bagram Aircraft Flying New FAA Oceanic Air Traffic System Designed By Lockheed Martin Fully Operational NASA Seeks New Research Proposals	NUCLEAR SPACE Could NASA Get To Pluto Faster? Space Expert Says Yes - By Thinking Nuclear NASA plans to send new robot to Jupiter Los Alamos Hopes To Lead New Era Of Nuclear Space Tranportion With Jovian Mission Boeing Selects Leader for Nuclear Space Systems Program

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement