DATE=8/2/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA-MISSILE (L)
NUMBER=2-252394
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: China says it successfully test-launched a new
kind of long range ground-to-ground missile Monday,
although the announcement from the official Xinhua
news agency gave no further details. V-O-A
correspondent Roger Wilkison reports the test comes
amid a dispute between China and Taiwan over the
island's insistence that it be treated as an equal in
talks with Beijing.
TEXT: It is not clear what type of missile China
tested, but one western military attache in Beijing
says he suspects it may be an updated version of the
East Wind. He says the East Wind 31, which China was
expected to deploy next year, is supposed to have a
range of eight-thousand kilometers. The East Wind 31,
he adds, would be able to carry a single nuclear
warhead and is a replacement for the East Wind 4,
which dates back to the 1960's.
Last Saturday, on the eve of the anniversary of
China's People's Liberation Army, the English-language
China Daily newspaper praised the armed forces for -
in its words - working hard to catch up with the
world's military powers. In a front-page article, the
daily said many of China's missiles can match the
leading missiles of the world. It also said China has
the ability to launch missiles from submarines.
The missile test takes place three weeks after Taiwan
said it should be treated as a separate state in any
negotiations with Beijing. That unleashed a stream of
belligerent rhetoric from China's official news media
and threats by the Chinese military to use force if
Taiwan formally declares independence. China regards
the island as a wayward province. Although both China
and Taiwan have officially espoused the idea of
eventual reunification, Taiwan has chafed under
Beijing's unrelenting efforts to deny it any
international living space.
In recent days, there have been reports in the Hong
Kong news media of military maneuvers along China's
coast facing Taiwan. But China's Defense Ministry has
either denied or refused to comment on such reports.
Just days after Taiwan set off the latest cross-strait
tension by insisting it should be treated as a state,
China announced it had perfected the technology to
make the neutron bomb, which kills people but does not
destroy infrastructure. (signed)
neb/rw/gc/jo/plm/kl
02-Aug-1999 06:48 AM LOC (02-Aug-1999 1048 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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