China to have 800 missiles aimed at Taiwan by next year

[MidnightViper88]

http://dailytimes.com*****default.asp...0-3-2005_pg4_8

China to have 800 missiles in 2006

TAIPEI: The number of Chinese ballistic missiles targeting Taiwan is expected to reach at least 800 next year, the island’s defense minister Lee Jye said Wednesday. The People’s Liberation Army currently has 700 ballistic missiles deployed opposite Taiwan, Lee said in his first report to the new session of parliament.

“The number is estimated to increase to 800 next year,” Lee warned in a call for support of a new 480 billion Taiwan dollar (15.24 billion US) arms package aimed at deterring China. His report came one day after Taipei lodged what one senior Taiwanese official called “the strongest protest” against “threats resorting to violent means” by China, which on Tuesday outlined an anti-secession law aimed at Taiwan. Beijing reiterated it was prepared to use force to bring the island to heel but only after all other avenues are exhausted. The alternative to force was peaceful reunification using the one country, two systems model adopted by Hong Kong, according to Wang Zhaoguo, vice chairman of the National People’s Congress, or parliament. Beijing on Friday announced it would boost military spending 12.6 percent this year to 247.7 billion yuan (29.9 billion dollars).

‘Solemn mission’: China on Wednesday ignored a US call for it to rethink a law that provides a legal basis for military action against Taiwan, telling lawmakers it was their “solemn mission” to pass the legislation. “Formulating the anti-secession law is a major event in China’s political life,” top legislater Wu Bangguo said at the National People’s Congress, China’s annual sitting of parliament. “The national legislature is sure to fulfill the solemn mission to do a good job in enacting the anti-secession law.” The text of the draft, published Wednesday by Taiwan’s United Daily News, calls for the use of “non-peaceful means and other necessary measures to protect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” if all else fails. afp

...can China do that?

[Bilbo Baggins]

Yes.

[Wildrose-Wally]

Not if you tell them to stop.

[Bilbo Baggins]

Are they likely to listen to anyone though? They can pretty much act with impunity.

[Smeggle]

Oh for fucks sake - this planet is bloody pathetic....Why can't they all just bloody grew up ...

[whiteflip]

China is like the US. they do as the please. I can see why they want to. But yeah its their business and we are allied with both so I wouldn't know how to handle the situation of China invaded Taiwann. We would probably side with China. Besides being a member of the People's Republic doesn't seem so bad if you get to maintain a significant ammount of your sovergnty.

[Mattress]

Personally I'd side with Taiwan. China needs to just admit that it has lost Taiwan, it's been fact for how long now?

[griffinn]

It's the Taiwanese defence minister's estimate of China's threat, under the context that he's bidding for money to be poured into defence.

[billyvnilly]

if it did come to it, would the USA treat taiwan like the next kuwait

[CaboWaboAddict]

Wouldn't that be a spectacular light show?

[MidnightViper88]

Originally posted by CaboWaboAddict
Wouldn't that be a spectacular light show?

I heard Asian fireworks suck compared to what America has, ironically...

And I'm talking about firecrackers and artillery shells; Not nukes and ballistic missiles...

[dlinkwit27]

Originally posted by whiteflip
China is like the US. they do as the please. I can see why they want to.

not so much. that whole region is so preoccupied with honor and shit they can't get anything done. Try to have a peace talk and if a flag is slightly more centered on a table or if one has an extra thread or something everyone gets their damn panties in a bunch. If it wern't for their cheap ass labour, i'd say nuke 'em all.

[whiteflip]

Wow aren't you the humanitarian. Stop arguing or I'll nuke you! If anything happened the US would treat Taiwann like it treated Hong Kong.

[zootm]

What do you mean about Hong Kong, incidentally? It's not like it was invaded.

[whiteflip]

To my knowledge, Hong Kong was a British Colony and it went free or something and like China took it over but not completly so its mostly soverign. Some please correct me, fill in some details because I would like to know more.

BECAUSE KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!

[zootm]

Britain gave it back to China, is the basic point. At the point it was given back to China it was allowed to operate for a while as it had before (known as the "one country, two systems" plan if I remember), until it eventually fell under the umbrella of Chinese normalcy. Not invaded, not abandoned, as far as I can tell, although there were some who pleaded to leave it under British rule.

[whiteflip]

Thanks zootm for the history brushup

[hgnis]

Actually both the US and UK have become so weak in spreading it's forces and military cuts that if China WERE to wage an all out strike nuclear et al, Taiwan would not stand a chance. Even IF either chose to commit further forces to protect the island - which does not appear feasible given the current state of things globally, there would not be any hope for those people. Unless of course the Russians or a United Europe made a stand together.

[ujay]

No two major power blocs would start a war aginst each other, the results would debilitate both sides completely. Military might is only used agaist weak countries and even that can be bloody enough. Major powers increasingly slug it out over economics and control of markets and resources.
So if China went for Taiwan there is every likelyhood that other major powers would stay out of it.

IIRC the lease ran out on Hong Kong and had to be handed back to China, who were the freeholders.

UJ

[ertmann|CPH]

As Teipei and Beijing can't seem to decide, i'd rename it back to Formosa and give the damned Island back to Japan....

that ought to teach them...

And yeah, the Chinese haven't done a very good job with the one country - two systems framework in Hong Kong and Macao, I wouldn't trust them if i was Taiwanese either...

[Omega X]

This is retarted. They should just leave Taiwan alone before another useles war breaks out. AND as always, the United States will have some sort of tie to it.

[ertmann|CPH]

uhm, you shouldn't take that too lightly, if China attacks Taiwan and America sides with Teipei - well, we have WWIII on our hands... and that's not something you just sort out...

And it's a far more likely scenario, than some obscrure pirate state (ayee) should create havoc with wmd's

[Mattress]

we're already in world war 3 (4 if you count the cold war)

[ertmann|CPH]

Originally posted by Mattress
we're already in world war 3 (4 if you count the cold war)

i don't agree with that statement, but no matter what number world war we're in, my argument still stands...

and i definantly don't agree we're in WWIII right now...

[CaboWaboAddict]

Originally posted by hgnis
Actually both the US and UK have become so weak in spreading it's forces and military cuts that if China WERE to wage an all out strike nuclear et al, Taiwan would not stand a chance. Even IF either chose to commit further forces to protect the island - which does not appear feasible given the current state of things globally, there would not be any hope for those people. Unless of course the Russians or a United Europe made a stand together.

Seriously, if China launched a nuclear strike against Taiwan, WTF could anyone do about it?

[webthing]

FLASH NEWS

REPORT: CHINA, RUSSIA TO 'REHEARSE INVASION OF TAIWAN'


MOSCOW, March 17. (RIA Novosti)-Yesterday, Chief of the Russian General Staff Yury Baluyevsky left for China to settle a scandal over the first Russian-Chinese military exercise, Commonwealth-2005, which is due to be held this fall off the Yellow Sea coast, writes Kommersant.

The initial plans were to practice operational teamwork in combating terrorism during the exercise. However, Beijing, skillfully changing the format of the exercise, has tried to re-orient the two countries' armies to practicing an invasion of Taiwan.

The choice of where the exercise will take place became a stumbling block. The Russian military selected the Xinjiang-Uigur autonomous region, basing their choice on the area's problematic nature due to Uigur separatists and its proximity to Central Asia, which has become an arena in the fight against international terrorism. However, Beijing flatly rejected the proposal. Instead, it suggested the Zhejiang province near Taiwan.

A joint exercise in this area would look too provocative and trigger a strong reaction not only from Taiwan but also America and Japan, which recently included the island in the zone of their common strategic interests.

Beijing is trying to use Russia as an additional lever of pressure on the disobedient island to show it that its policy is also causing dissatisfaction in Russia, from which the Taiwanese are expecting assistance in their dialogue with Beijing and bid to join the WTO and the UN.

On the Russian military's insistence, the exercise was shifted north to the Shangdong peninsula. However, the Chinese are trying to change the format of the exercise with proposals to enlarge the contingents with Marines and Pacific Fleet warships. Marine landings to seize the area will be practiced during the "antiterrorist" exercise.

Russia's agreement to hold the exercise will inevitably cause a furor in America, Japan and Taiwan. But a refusal will spoil relations with China, which three months ago courteously agreed to Russia's proposal to hold an exercise.


Developing...




Beijing warns of invasion if Taiwan dares to declare its independence.


CHINA increased regional tensions yesterday when the annual parliament in Beijing tabled an anti-secessionist Bill that explicitly threatens the invasion of Taiwan if the island declares independence.
Any such move by Taiwan will trigger “non-peaceful means and other necessary measures to protect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”, Wang Zhaoguo, a senior legislator, told the National People’s Congress.

The move prompted a furious reaction in Taiwan. “(China) has issued a blank cheque to its military for the use of force against Taiwan,” Chiu Tai-shan, vice-chairman of the policy-making Mainland Affairs Council, said.



While the Bill does not specify which actions may provoke a Chinese invasion, it is seen as a strong display of sabre-rattling. However, Mr Wang, apparently eager to nurture improving relations with the United States, emphasised that peaceful reunification was Beijing’s goal.

President Bush has vowed to protect Taiwan against attack.






Beijing warns of invasion if Taiwan dares to declare its independence

[BarkingBulldawg]

this is really pathetic behavior by the Chinese government

[dlinkwit27]

arn't the Chinese just doing what England tried to do to the US back in the 1700's (although they are using nukes rather than tea drinking, red-coated soldiers)?

[whiteflip]

Well that and their million man army. I wouldn't want to go up against that.

[dlinkwit27]

but I'm just saying, all they wanna do is get "their" land back like England did, so what is so wrong about that?

[webthing]

Beijing secretly fires lasers to disable US satellites


China has secretly fired powerful laser weapons designed to disable American spy satellites by "blinding" their sensitive surveillance devices, it was reported yesterday.


The hitherto unreported attacks have been kept secret by the Bush administration for fear that it would damage attempts to co-opt China in diplomatic offensives against North Korea and Iran.

Sources told the military affairs publication Defense News that there had been a fierce internal battle within Washington over whether to make the attacks public. In the end, the Pentagon's annual assessment of the growing Chinese military build-up barely mentioned the threat.

"After a contentious debate, the White House directed the Pentagon to limit its concern to one line," Defense News said.

The document said that China could blind American satellites with a ground-based laser firing a beam of light to prevent spy photography as they pass over China.

According to senior American officials: "China not only has the capability, but has exercised it." American satellites like the giant Keyhole craft have come under attack "several times" in recent years.

Although the Chinese tests do not aim to destroy American satellites, the laser attacks could make them useless over Chinese territory.

The American military has been so alarmed by the Chinese activity that it has begun test attacks against its own satellites to determine the severity of the threat.

Satellites are especially vulnerable to attack because they have predetermined orbits, allowing an enemy to know where they will appear.

"The Chinese are very strategically minded and are extremely active in this arena. They really believe all the stuff written in the 1980s about the high frontier," said one senior former Pentagon official.

There has been increasing alarm in parts of the American military establishment over China's growing military ambitions.

Military experts have already noted that Chinese military expenditure is increasingly designed to challenge American military pre-eminence by investing in weaponry that can attack key systems such as aircraft carriers and satellites.

At the same time, China is engaged in a large-scale espionage effort against American high-tech firms working on projects such as the multibillion-pound DD(X) destroyer programme.

Several spy rings have been cracked and the FBI is increasing the number of counter-intelligence staff tracking the Chinese effort.


What the fuck happened to to tinhat dude?


telegraph.co.uk

[Mattress]

Originally posted by webthing
[B]
What the fuck happened to to tinhat dude?

He's a writer for the telegraph?

[rockouthippie]

Just keep shopping at Walmart, so the chinese can afford more missiles.

[Omega X]

Originally posted by rockouthippie
Just keep shopping at Walmart, so the chinese can afford more missiles.

The chinese manufacturing industry reaches much farther than Wal-Mart products.

[Mattress]

I think it's okay to squarely blame Clinton for that one.