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Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
China beefs up missile stocks
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
China is sending additional shipments of short-range missiles to Fujian
province opposite Taiwan, a sign Beijing is stepping up deployments as the
Bush administration contemplates new arms sales to the island. Top Stories
U.S. intelligence officials told The Washington Times that the latest
shipment of CSS-7 missiles was photographed by a spy satellite in the past
two weeks as being aboard a train from a factory in central China to a CSS-7
base at Yongan.
The shipment followed two earlier trainloads of CSS-7s sent from a
production facility at Yuanan, about 175 miles west of the provincial capital
of Wuhan, to a second base opposite Taiwan at Xianyou.
A fourth missile shipment is expected to leave the Yuanan factory in the
next few days for Yongan, said officials familiar with intelligence reports.
The officials also said the satellite photographs show the Chinese are
expanding the Yuanan missile factory. The factory is part of a complex of
production facilities known as the Sanjiang Missile Group.
"The construction indicates they're getting ready to increase
production," said one official.
The intelligence reports come amid a Chinese government propaganda
effort aimed at influencing the Bush administration to curb weapons sales to
Taiwan. A decision on new arms deliveries is expected sometime next month.
Secretary of State Colin Powell told visiting Chinese Vice Prime
Minister Qian Qichen last week that the buildup of missiles opposite Taiwan
is destabilizing, the Associated Press reported.
A CIA spokesman declined to comment on intelligence reports of the
latest missile shipments to Fujian.
Pentagon spokesman Navy Rear Adm. Craig Quigley also would not comment,
citing rules against commenting on intelligence matters.
Adm. Quigley said, however, that China's military modernization includes
adding missiles to areas near Taiwan.
The modernization program is being closely monitored, he said.
The buildup of forces opposite Taiwan also will weigh in the
administration's decision on arms sales to Taiwan, he said.
"This is something we watch very carefully and it is an element that
goes into the decision-making process of meeting the legitimate defense needs
of Taiwan," Adm. Quigley said in an interview.
Adm. Quigley said "it is no secret" China is improving its military
"capabilities for reaching out to Taiwan."
The Bush administration is considering a request from Taiwan for about
30 different weapons systems, including four Aegis-equipped guided-missile
destroyers, advanced Patriot missile-defense systems and air-launched
missiles that home in on radar.
A Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff report on the Taiwan Strait
said that the Chinese military threat to Taiwan is growing and includes
hundreds of short-range missiles deployed close to the coast. China also has
purchased guided-missile destroyers, missiles and planes from Russia.
The report says that the Taiwanese military believes China's forces are
working on developing a "quick-strike solution" by deploying missiles that
would defeat the island before U.S. forces could arrive to defend it.
Under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, the United States is obligated to
prevent the forcible reunification of the island with the mainland, a
formulation that is at odds with agreements with China that limit sales of
advanced arms.
Al Santoli, a national security aide to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,
California Republican, said the ongoing missile deployments appear to be part
of a Chinese government attempt to "test the mettle of the Bush
administration."
"The Chinese are trying to see how far they can go in terms of their
unprecedented military buildup, especially the ongoing deployments of
missiles," Mr. Santoli said.
"If the administration should blink at this point, it will set a
precedent for the possibility of conflict occurring in the Taiwan Strait
sooner," he said.
Richard Fisher, a specialist on the Chinese military with the Jamestown
Foundation, said the latest shipments may indicate the Chinese are adding
missiles to two existing brigades of CSS-7s or are forming a third brigade.
"The Chinese missile threat is very quickly making the U.S. policy
response obsolete," Mr. Fisher said. "Even the consideration of four Aegis
ships have to be viewed as woefully insufficient to deter Beijing."
The Aegis is viewed by defense analysts as a base for a future missile
defense system against short-range missiles. The system can track hundreds of
targets at the same time and when fully developed will be able to guide
missile interceptors to knock out enemy missiles.
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