MND KEEPING TABS ON BEIJING'S DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR SUBMARINES
Taipei, Dec. 7 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) is keeping tabs on the development of nuclear-power submarines in mainland China, an MND official said on Tuesday.
Chao Lien-ti, assistant deputy chief of the ministry's General Staff for Intelligence, said at a regular press briefing that the MND has kept abreast of Beijing's development of nuclear weapons for more than a decade, noting that it published articles about mainland Chinese development of submarines and missiles launched from submarines as far back as 1986.
Judging from the progress of its development, Chao said, it is certain that Beijing will complete the deployment of nuclear-powered submarines by 2005.
Chao made the remarks in the wake of a Washington Times report on Monday that Beijing is beginning work on a new submarine that will be targeted against US nuclear forces and will carry missile warheads built with stolen US nuclear technology.
Chao said that Beijing has developed five "Han-class" submarines, one "Hsia-class" submarine, and is now working on two new models with the code numbers 093 and 094, and added that the MND is keeping abreast of developments on the mainland as they unfold.
The Washington Times also said that Beijing will start construction in the next several weeks on 094-type missile submarine.
The JL-2 missile which will be installed on the 094 submarines is based on the DF-31 International ballistic missile, but has a longer range of around 8,000 kilometers and would be able to reach the west coast of the United States if fired from the southeastern coast of mainland China. Each submarine will be armed with between 12 and 16 warheads.
Chao said that the MND believes that the submarines are intended as a strategic deterrent, and to provide the mainland with a second strike capability, and will not target Taiwan.
Meanwhile, a legislator from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party on Tuesday claimed that the recent Washington Times reports are aimed at influencing Taiwan's 2000 presidential election.
According to Legislator Trong Tsai, the reports on the construction of the 094 submarine are untrue, but he noted that the authoritative Jane's Navy Review reported that Beijing had begun to develop 094 submarines almost 20 years ago.
Tsai said he suspected that one of Taiwan's presidential candidates may have orchestrated the reports to drum up voter support by employing US public relations companies to prod US officials into speaking to certain news media. He did not elaborate, either on the identity of the candidate.
But he urged the presidential candidate not to play with fire as the people of Taiwan are getting used to Beijing's military intimidation and verbal attacks. Moreover, he went on, Beijing has already stated clearly that it will not use military intimidation as a means of intimidating Taiwan's voters as it did in the last presidential election. (By Lilian Wu)
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