- President Chen Shui-bian called on China to withdraw
hundreds of ballistic missiles targeting Taiwan, saying the weapons were
terrorising the island's people.
-
- "The terror and threat posed to Taiwan people has
virtually exceeded those brought by any terrorist attacks," Chen said
in a speech Tuesday on the eve of the September 11 anniversary.
-
- Chen threw his weight behind Washington's efforts to
combat international terrorists, but said the world should realise the
pressure being placed on Taiwan by the government in Beijing.
-
- "While Taiwan is devoting itself to anti-terrorism,
there is no reason to have the 23 million people here being shadowed by
protracted military threat," he said.
-
- China has deployed 208 ballistic missiles in its southeastern
Fujian province opposite Taiwan and 192 others in Jiangxi province, with
the number expected to increase by 50 per year, he said.
-
- "This has posed a serious threat to Taiwan's security
and stability in the Asia Pacific region, and has sparked concerns from
the international community," Chen said.
-
- It was the second warning about China's missiles from
Chen in the past three days.
-
- Analysts here said Taipei was giving moral support to
Washington at a time when US President George W. Bush was seeking hard
to enlist more international support for his plan to overthrow Iraqi leader
Saddam Hussein.
-
- "The message is clear. Washington would know Taipei
is on its side," said Wung Ming-hsien, professor of Tamkang University's
Graduate Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies.
-
- "And in so doing, Taipei hopes its ties with Washington
would be reinforced," Wung told AFP.
-
- "Besides, Taipei would have nothing to lose if there
is nothing to gain."
-
- Washington has remained the leading arms supplier to
Taipei despite its switching of diplomatic recognition from Beijing to
Taipei since 1979.
-
- A Pentagon report released in July warned that the People's
Liberation Army has deployed 350 ballistic missiles along Fujian province
opposite Taiwan, with the number expected to increase by 50 each year.
-
- The remarks came amid growing concerns that Taipei's
interests could be compromised when Chinese President Jiang Zemin visits
the United States later this year.
-
- Washington is seeking broad international support on
any action it will take against Saddam and his weapons of mass destruction.
-
- While Taiwan has been ruled separately from mainland
China since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, the communist government
in Beijing considers the island an inalienable part of its territory.
-
- China repeatedly threatens to use military force to re-take
the island if Taiwan makes any attempt to move towards full independence.
-
- Chen also expressed concern about China's "asymmetric"
military strategy, under which Chinese forces might launch a blitz on Taiwan
using cruise missiles, biochemical weaponry, Internet hackers and electric
magnetic pulse (EMP) bombs.
-
- A low-yield nuclear EMP bomb detonated high in the stratosphere
above Taiwan could paralyze the island's wireless, electronic communications,
and banking systems while avoiding heavy loss of life, military experts
here have warned.
-
- Copyright © 2002 AFP. All rights reserved. All information
displayed in this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected
by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence
you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any
way commercially exploit any of the contents of this section without the
prior written consent of Agence France-Presses.
|
