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SIMULATED WARFARE DRILLS TARGET CHINESE MILITARY: MND

ROC Central News Agency

2007-04-24 20:15:39

    Taipei, April 24 (CNA) Officers of the Ministry of National Defense (MND) confirmed Tuesday that the MND's just-concluded simulated computerized warfare drills targeted the Chinese military with missiles in counterattacking a mock surprise assault by China.

    The five-day computerized warfare simulation formed part of the large-scale combined forces' "Han Kuang" military exercises which are conducted by the MND annually.

    At a press conference held at the MND, Hsu Tai-sheng, director of MND's Joint Operation Training and Doctrine Office, stressed that the the five-day computerized warfare simulation, which began April 16, only targeted Chinese military objectives and none of its civilian installations.

    According to MND officers, the computerized warfare simulated a situation in which China attacks Taiwan's warfare command centers, radar stations and missile bases with high-calibre weapons in 2012, then makes a land assault on the island after weakening Taiwan's air and marine combat ability.

    In mock counterattacks, Taiwan's troops struck Chinese military targets with missiles, including airports, missile bases and observation and telecommunications installations.

    However, the MND did not elaborate what kinds of missiles they were using in the warfare simulation as the officials classified them as confidential.

    MND's spokesman Wu Chi-fang noted that the computerized warfare drills only focused on the attacking and defensive sides, and did not include an intervention by the United States. According to Wu, the U.S. military observation delegation, which was here to observe the process, expressed satisfaction regarding the content of the MND's computerized mock drills.

    However, Chiu Kuo-cheng, a deputy chief of MND in charge of warfare planning, admitted that the warfare simulation also reflected Taiwan's serious weakness in its anti-missile and anti-submarine measures, which allowed the island's airports, radar stations and missile bases on the west coast to be seriously damaged by Chinese missiles in the simulated warfare, and China's superiority in the number of submarines also posed a serious threat to the security of the island.

    A MND report said the experience obtained in the computerized warfare simulation will serve as valuable references for Taiwan's military preparedness in the future, but Taiwan's apparent inferior anti-missile and anti-submarine combat ability represent another urgent matter that the nation's military forces should face.

(By Elisa Kao)

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