Red circles with green stars in them are Taiwan's nuclear reactor locations.
Posted on 03/06/2007 5:05:19 AM PST by IrishMike
Taipei - Taiwan has test-fired missiles capable of hitting major economic centres of rival China, local news media reported Tuesday, amid a new tension across the Taiwan Strait. Military-funded Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology test-fired the local-made Hsiung Feng 2E, which has a range of up to 1,000 kilometres, last month, Taipei-based United Daily News reported.
Quoting an unnamed institute source, the paper said the missile is able to hit Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai - the economic centres of China in the south and central parts of the mainland.
It said President Chen Shui-bian inspected the test-firing along with Defence Minister Lee Jye.
The defence ministry, however, declined to comment on the report. The institute also refused to confirm whether it had test-fired the missile or not.
But parliamentarians of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said it explained why Chen was bold enough to say that Taiwan must declare independence.
They said the fact that Taiwan is capable of producing missiles that can threaten China has given Chen a strong boost.
Taiwan and China split at the end of a civil war in 1949, but Beijing still regards the island an integral part of the mainland. It has repeatedly warned that if Taiwan ever declares independence officially, it will send forces to attack the island.
............ The comments prompted Beijing to lash out at Chen. Washington, an informal ally of Taiwan and arms supplier for the island, also demanded that Chen keep his previous promises to refrain from further escalating cross-strait tensions.
David Wang, spokesman of Taiwan's foreign ministry, Tuesday said he had no idea about the test-fire issue, but stressed Taiwan must have adequate defence capability to safeguard itself in the face of rapid military buildup of China.
(Excerpt) Read more at earthtimes.org ...
Formosa (Taiwan) was rarely under the control of various Chinese dynasties in the last few centuries. It was under the Japanese from the 1930s until liberation by allied forces under a non-communist leader. Communist did not conquer mainland china until 1949.
I do not understand how the chicoms can legitimately say Taiwan is a part of them either through history, politics, or current events. I guess might makes right?
What...the U.S. needs to bomb or show up on say the Inuit of the Arctic to display global prowess,
I mean really....the U.S. can drop a cruise missile or a jet down on a country inside of 1 Hour anywhere's on the Earth if they really had to.
Where's this Stagnating Power you speak of.
The World simply hates the U.S. because it is so able to show up anywhere's and bring the Hammer of influence out.
The world thinks the U.S. is this or that because its allways talking and coming back to negotiating tables.
Thats the U.S. being Civilized,
In another mode....possibly pissed off,..the drama is quite different.
The U.S. could slip Taiwan whatever it needs to slap China back into its chair hard.
The U.S. is not Stagnating...
Stupid Drunk on Money yes........but not stagnating
Not to mention a war in that region would cripple the global economy. Everyone has business connectionw in shanghai, Hong Kong, or Beijing.
Yes much better to be on the other end of nuclear extermination! If China is determined to destroy Taiwan, then Taiwan should be just as determined!
We've got plenty of warheads--we can afford to share some.
Hillary and Bill cut 40% and gave China lots of lovely parting gifts, but that was then and this is now.
The gifting parties are over.
Gee, I wonder why Syria and Iran feel they need the Russian A-300 systems.
Those pesky Kurds or those wascally Estonians.
Vladimir Paranoidin keeps pushing enemies over balconies and shooting them in their driveways.
Oh, and that renegade province delusion. Thirteen years in three millenia: 1887-1895/1945-1949.
Communism sucks--hence they have to use capitalism to avoid that New Age North Korean Tree Bark Diet.
Oh but they'll be "socialist for a hundred years".
Or not.
Perhaps Algore will sell them 22 million people credits
Red circles with green stars in them are Taiwan's nuclear reactor locations.
They don't have to be. They just have to be capable of making the cost of their conquest too high for PRC to pay.
Appreciated.
Oh yeah...
I'll see that bet, and raise you.....
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/index.html
Boo hoo!
Like they care!
Communism has been the greatest social engineering experiment we have ever seen. It failed utterly and in doing so it killed over 100,000,000 men, women, and children, not to mention the near 30,000,000 of its subjects that died in its often aggressive wars and the rebellions it provoked. But there is a larger lesson to be learned from this horrendous sacrifice to one ideology. That is that no one can be trusted with power. The more power the center has to impose the beliefs of an ideological or religious elite or impose the whims of a dictator, the more likely human lives are to be sacrificed. This is but one reason, but perhaps the most important one, for fostering liberal democracy.
Yes we do.
Look at Germany compared to the Soviet Union. Then look at casualties from each country.
Taiwan was considered Free China until Carter refused further U.S. government recognition of Free China, replacing Taiwan with Red China as the sole representative of the people of China.
"Not to mention a war in that region would cripple the global economy. Everyone has business connectionw in shanghai, Hong Kong, or Beijing."
Yep. The puppet strings are strong. Shows how excessive dependency on other countries to maintain one's economy can be such a devastating weakness.
More Jimmuh follies.
Let's hope that Taiwan will make a great deal of progress so that they can start deploying them. It would seem to be the only way of giving China pause.
I think at this point the best thing that the U.S. can do is get out of the way by Taiwan. Do nothing more than encourage Taiwan to take the steps necessary to defend itself, particularly if it moves even closer to complete independence from China. China thinks that the US will not sacrifice one American city to keep Taiwan in the American camp. I think they're right on that point. But just how much can China sacrifice? How much would it take to endanger the regime, kill their economy, or split the country up? Conventional weapons probably wouldn't have an effect on China. It seems to me though that several well-aimed nukes could cause the Chinese government to collapse. Would the regime take that risk?
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