Taiwan Drills For Attack On Chinese Carrier

SINO DAILY

File photo of a Taiwan navy missile boat launching a local-made Hsiungfeng II missile.

by Staff Writers
Taipei (AFP) April 16, 2007
Taiwan is performing a computerised military exercise which for the first time focuses on attacking a Chinese aircraft carrier, it was reported Monday. The scenario of a five-day drill -- part of military manoeuvres codenamed "Han Kuang 23" -- is that in 2012 the People's Liberation Army (PLA) launch a blitz on the island after they acquire their first aircraft carrier, the Taipei-based China Times reported.

The defense ministry declined to comment on the report.

In the drill beginning Monday, the Taiwanese navy armed with home-made "Hsiungfeng II" ship-to-ship missiles and the improved version of supersonic "Hsiungfeng III" missiles is to simulate launching its arsenal against a Chinese aircraft carrier, the report said.

The Taiwan air force's F-16 fighters would also simulate attacks on the carrier using US-made Harpoon missiles, it said.

The report also said the former commander-in-chief of US Pacific Command, Dennis Blair, would witness the drill.

China has stepped up its cross-strait combat readiness and modernised its navy in recent years.

China's PLA staged a series of live-fire war games near Taiwan and lobbed ballistic missiles into the shipping lanes off the island's two major harbours to scare Taiwanese voters into not re-electing then president Lee Teng-hui for a second term during the 1995-96 missile crisis.

The sabre-rattling did not die down until Washington sent two battle carrier groups to waters near Taiwan in a clear message to Beijing not to take military action against the island that China regards as part of its territory.

Tensions between Taiwan and mainland China have escalated since independence-leaning Chen Shui-bian was elected president in 2000. He was re-elected in 2004.

China has repeatedly threatened to invade the island should it declare formal independence.

Source: Agence France-Presse

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SINO DAILY

Taiwan Plans To Buy US-Made Attack Choppers

Taipei (AFP) April 11, 2007
Taiwan plans to purchase 30 advanced Apache attack helicopters from the United States in the face of a mounting military threat from rival China, a defence official said Wednesday. The deal would require the approval of the United States, the island's leading arms supplier despite a lack of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

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