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Taipei, Jan. 18 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) confirmed a U.S. intelligence report Thursday that mainland China is constructing an advanced long-range missile base in Zhangzhou, Fujian province, which lies opposite Taiwan.

A senior MND official said the Republic of China military has long obtained relevant information and has taken measures to cope with the situation.

According to the official, mainland China's intensified air-defense deployment in its southeastern coastal areas is aimed at countering both the ROC's commissioning of second-generation warplanes and the U.S. air force in the Asia-Pacific region.

Quoting ROC intelligence sources, the official said the Zhangzhou missile base now under construction is designed to accommodate Russian-made S-300 MPU surface-to-air missiles.

Noting that the S-300 MPU missile has a range of at least 90 kilometers, the official said mainland China's acquisition of this type of air-defense missile has seriously squeezed the ROC's air supremacy over the Taiwan Strait and its electronic warfare reconnaissance capability.

To cope with this challenge, the official said, the ROC air force has intensified early-warning vigilance training of its second-generation warplane pilots.

The official pointed out that the ROC's air supremacy was undermined during the 1995-96 Taiwan Strait crisis, when mainland authorities moved the Russian-made S-300 MPU missiles to the Fujian area to test its missile units' mobility. The S-300 missile deployment also provided better protection for all mainland troops participating in the live-fire military drills during the crisis period, the official explained.

The official went on to say that the S-300 MPU missile is similar in its functions to the ROC's self-developed Skybow missile. "Both of them are guided by phase-array radar and can simultaneously hit several different targets," he noted, adding that the S-300 MPU missile can quickly detect and hit targets.

Mainland China originally deployed its S-300 MPU missiles in its inland military bases. Its decision to build a special military base in Zhangzhou to deploy these highly sophisticated long-range air-defense missile will further affect the ROC air force's activities in the Taiwan Strait area, the official warned. (By Sofia Wu)