POLITICS: China-Taiwan Tension Worsening

Taipei Times: War-games drill starts in Kaohsiung

Aug 04, 2005


Anti-blockade, air raid and combined operations for intercepting enemy attacks featured in a joint navy-air force exercise that was part of the annual "Han Kuang" No. 21 exercises launched off Tsoying in the north of Kaohsiung yesterday.

Minister of National Defense Lee Jye inspected part of the process, which saw the most comprehensive demonstration of naval combat capability in recent years, military sources said.

The detonation of mines was demonstrated for the first time in a simulation of the sinking of landing enemy craft.

Naval vessels also fired live torpedoes against "enemy frigates," according to the sources.

In addition, an S-2T anti-submarine aircraft fired depth charges to contain a mock enemy naval offensive. The aircraft was joined by F-16 fighters, which fired live ammunition at enemy targets.

The goal of the drill was to test the joint combat capability of the navy and air force in terms of both defense and offense.


PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES

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Guardian: China and Russia flex their muscles as they join forces to play the war game

August 9, 2005

When Taiwanese military forces launched a combined operations exercise off Tsoying in the Taiwan Strait last week, it was not hard to guess who the "enemy" was.
Mines and depth charges were detonated in simulated sinkings of invading landing craft and torpedoes were fired at notionally hostile frigates and submarines. The Taipei Times said it was Taiwan's biggest show of force in years.

But China, whose threats to seize the "renegade province" and recent anti-secession law make it the main focus of Taiwan's attentions, is flexing its military muscles, too.

Next week will see far larger war games involving Chinese and Russian troops in and around the Shandong peninsula in the Yellow sea. Regional observers say such military cooperation is unprecedented and could mark the start of something new.

"The China-Russia exercise is intended to send a message to Taiwan," said Andrew Yang of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies in Taipei.

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Channelnewsasia.com: Taiwan begins deployment of cruise missiles

12 August 2005

Taiwan has begun deploying home-made cruise missiles on mobile launchers and that they are capable of hitting major military targets in southeast China, a newspaper here reported.

The China Times said the Hsiung Feng missiles, which have a range of 1,000 kilometres, were deployed across the island by the defense ministry's new missile command.

The institute was also developing cruise missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometres for further deployment.

Last month the Pentagon released a report warning that China had deployed up to 730 ballistic missiles targeting the island.

China sees Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification despite their split in 1949, and has repeatedly threatened to invade if the island declares formal independence.


Taiwan successfully test-fires its Hsiung Feng surface-to-surface missile

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