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No first strike against China: spokesman

ROC Central News Agency

Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA) Taiwan will not initiate an attack on China, a presidential spokesman said Monday, following a report that the government had decided not to upgrade its cruise missiles to make them capable of reaching China.

Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi said Taiwan would not take the initiative to attack China under its defense policy, nor would it attack its non-military facilities.

Wang's remarks followed a report in the China Times, a local daily, which said the government would not try to extend its Hsiung Feng II-E (HF-2E) missile's range to beyond 1,000 kilometers -- which would enable it to reach Shanghai -- but rather focus on stabilizing the missile's capability and starting mass production.

The HF-2E currently has a range of 600 km to 800 km, with the 800-km version test fired but yet to be mass produced, the reports also said.

The missile is a surface-to-surface cruise missile system

developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology in Taiwan and based upon the earlier HF-2 anti-ship missile.

The Office of Military Spokesman of the Ministry of National Defense (MND) stated Monday in a press release that the ministry's development of weaponry systems has followed the guideline of "resolute defense, " under which it will develop defensive weapons and will not attack non-military targets.

An opposition legislator reacted strongly to the MND's statement, which he argued reflected a departure from an earlier emphasis on deterrence that complemented the military's defensive posture.

Legislator Chai Trong-rong of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) , a member of the legislature's Foreign and National Defense Committee, said the MND's previous strategic guideline of "effective deterrence and resolute defense" might have been altered by President Ma Ying-jeou.

Chai questioned the dropping of "effective deterrence" from the MND's policy, expressing worries that this will leave Taiwan vulnerable to attack. (By Lilian Wu) enditem/ls