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China practiced
Taiwan attack: US media
By William Lowther / Staff reporter in WASHINGTON
A US newspaper is reporting that China earlier this month carried out a series
of practice or ˇ§simulatedˇ¨ attacks targeting Taiwan.
ˇ§The tests included multiple firings of short and medium-range ballistic
missiles as well as land-attack cruise missiles,ˇ¨ the Washington Times reported.
The report was written by national security journalist Bill Gertz, who has
established a reputation for his intelligence community contacts. Gertz earlier
broke news of China secretly testing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
(ICBMs).
The latest missile tests may actually have taken place while US Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton was in Beijing on Sept. 4.
Citing US officials, Gertz said Chinese military forces recently carried out a
series of ballistic and cruise missile tests that ˇ§simulated salvos of attacks
on Taiwan.ˇ¨
US intelligence sources reached by the Taipei Times would neither confirm nor
deny the report.
ˇ§The missile tests were monitored by US spy agencies which reported that the
tests used capabilities designed to penetrate missile defenses and to hit
hardened or protected targets,ˇ¨ Gertz said.
According to Gertz, China has between 1,000 and 1,600 DF-16 medium-range and
DF-11 and DF-15 short-range missiles within range of Taiwan and recently
deployed a new DH-10 land-attack cruise missile.
ˇ§The anti-Taiwan missile tests followed a series of long range flight tests of
Chinese missiles that began in July, with the first test of a new road-mobile
DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile,ˇ¨ Gertz said.
A US Department of State official said: ˇ§We are well aware of Chinaˇ¦s extensive
military modernization efforts and are monitoring them closely,ˇ¨ adding that ˇ§we
remain concerned about the lack of transparency from China.ˇ¨
Richard Fisher, a specialist on Chinaˇ¦s military with the International
Assessment and Strategy Center, said: ˇ§The timing of this latest missile
exercise with the arrival of the US Secretary of State seems consistent with the
Chinese Communist Party leadershipˇ¦s penchant for martial posturing.ˇ¨
ˇ§[US] Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta got his share when China revealed its
J-31 stealth fighter the day before his arrival. The dictators are playing for
PLA [Peopleˇ¦s Liberation Army] applause and may even think they are scaring the
rest of us, but they are also demonstrating their insecurity and reminding us
that their paper thin legitimacy makes them prone to violence,ˇ¨ he said.
Fisher said that with the latest report it was clear that Chinaˇ¦s Second
Artillery had undertaken an intensive missile demonstration and testing program
this summer.
ˇ§We are already seeing an effort by the PLA to counter Taiwanˇ¦s new missile
defenses with the deployment of longer range and faster DF-16 missiles that are
much harder to shoot down,ˇ¨ Fisher said.
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