Reports: Taiwan to Test US Missiles
Tuesday June 19 2:36 AM ET
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan will begin test-firing U.S.-made Patriot missiles on Wednesday - at the same time China is conducting major war games across the Taiwan Strait, newspapers said Tuesday.
The military declined to confirm when it will fire the Patriot missiles, which are intended to intercept incoming missiles. Officials said previously that they plan to do so this month and have insisted the timing is coincidental and not intended to provoke China.
The military warned civilian aircraft and fishing boats to stay away from an area of the southeastern coast in the mornings of Wednesday through Friday for live-fire drills, but the civilians weren't specifically warned about the Patriot missile tests, the United Daily News reported.
Other papers said a missile battalion was stationed in the southern Pingtung base getting ready to fire the Patriot missiles - at the same time China is conducting war games off the southeastern coastal province of Fujian, facing Taiwan, that include a simulated attack on a Taiwanese island.
Defense Ministry spokesman Huang Shuey-sheng said all preparations for the Patriot missile tests ``have gone on smoothly.''
``But for national security reasons, we cannot specify the time of the tests,'' Huang told reporters.
Taiwan acquired 200 Patriot missiles, an improved version of the weapons that gained notoriety for missing their targets in the 1991 Persian Gulf War (news - web sites). They have been deployed around Taipei, the capital, but the tests will be the first time they have been fired on Taiwanese soil.
Washington does not have formal ties with Taiwan but has repeatedly said it is committed to selling the island weapons needed for its defenses.
Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Taiwan has sought to build up its missile defense, arguing that China may have as many as 800 missiles pointed at the island within the next decade.
dailynews.yahoo.com
* * * |
