MND DISMISSES REPORTS THAT MISSILES COULD COVER SHANGHAI
ROC Central News Agency
2007-03-13 16:54:55
Taipei, March 13 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) denied Tuesday that Taiwan is scheduled to produce 500 Hsiungfeng 2E missiles that will bring Shanghai within its firing range.
MND spokesman Wu Chi-fang said the reports carried in the latest issue of Defense News, a U.S. weekly magazine, "were untrue."
The weekly quoted Taiwanese media to report that President Chen Shui-bian and National Defense Minister Lee Jye recently inspected a secret test firing of Hsiungfeng 2E missiles in Pingtung, southern Taiwan. The missiles, which have a range between 600 kilometers and 1,000 kilometers, could threaten parts of eastern China, including Shanghai, it said.
Wu noted that the MND has repeatedly clarified before that Hsiungfeng-series missiles are "ship-to-ship" missiles.
Minister Lee also clarified during a question-and-answer session at a legislative committee Monday that related reports about the test firing of Hsiungfeng 2E missiles were false.
The MND did not categorically denied the reports earlier because it hopes to hoodwink the enemy, Lee said.
(By Lilian Wu)
enditem/jnc
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