TAIPEI: Taiwan has developed its first medium-range guided missile that could be used against former rival China, according to a former defence minister in a new book cited by a media report yesterday.
Michael Tsai, a politician turned defence minister in the former government of the China-sceptic Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), revealed in his book due to be published today that the military successfully developed the missile back in 2008, the Liberty Times said.
In response to the report, the country’s defence ministry rounded on Tsai, saying that disclosure of the information “may endanger national security”.
The Times said Tsai knowingly used the term “medium-range guided missile” in his book titled God bless Taiwan, in contrast to the cruise missiles already in the island’s arsenal.
Taiwan in 2010 confirmed it was mass-producing Hsiungfeng 2E cruise missiles, the island’s answer to the US-made Tomahawk, despite fast warming ties with China.
“We have to develop weapons on our own if we are to deter any attacks by China, who has targeted Taiwan with more than 1,000 missiles,” Tsai said in the book.
AFP
