Taiwan tests anti-missile rockets

TAIPEI (TAIWAN), JUNE 20. Taiwan's army said it successfully test-fired U.S. Patriot missiles on Wednesday, knocking targets out of the sky in a live demonstration of the island's best defence against a missile attack from China.

The official Central News Agency said three missiles were launched, downing two targets - a dummy missile and a dummy aircraft - over the island's southeast coast.

The report, citing unidentified sources, did not make clear what the other missile had done, but analysts said it likely was fired first to track the target missile and transmit data back to the base so a second Patriot could hit it.

That would fit with the design of the U.S.-made system that shoots down incoming missiles, the analysts said.

The tests were conducted with Washington's blessings, officials here said, and they were thus seen locally as a show of U.S. support. Local media reported that U.S. military personnel and contractors were to be at the test site in southeastern Taiwan. Taiwan's military refused to discuss this.

A military expert, Mr. Shih Hsiao-wei, said the army has proved that it can accurately fire the missiles, but that might not be enough to beat back a missile attack by China.

Taiwan still needs to acquire long-range radars and facilities to receive missile information from spy satellites, said Mr. Shih, who edits the monthly Defence International. ``As it is now, we are hard pressed on warning time to knock down a missile,'' he said.

The army issued a brief statement saying the Patriot missiles had all hit their targets in ``one of the major drills to test our air defence capability,'' but it did not specify how many missiles were fired or how many targets were hit.

Earlier, cable television showed one missile arching through the sky, trailed by exhaust smoke as Taiwan tested weaponry intended to deter one of China's biggest military threats - the many missiles Beijing has aimed at the island.

The missiles were fired from Chiu-Peng base in southern Pingtung County under the direction of a missile battalion that received congratulations on the ``good news'' in a phone call from the President, Mr. Chen Shui-bian, the army said.

The Defence Ministry declined to take questions from reporters. But a Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that based on the cable TV footage, which showed the flying missile, ``it appeared to be a perfect launch.'' Taiwan has purchased from the United States 200 Patriot missiles, an improved version of the weapons that gained notoriety for missing their targets in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The Patriots are defensive missiles intended to intercept incoming targets.

They have been deployed around Taipei, the capital, and Wednesday's tests were the first time the missiles had been fired on Taiwanese soil.

The Patriot tests are occurring at the same time rival China is conducting massive war games, but Taiwan says the timing is coincidental and it is not trying to provoke Beijing.

Washington does not have formal ties with Taiwan but it has repeatedly said it is committed to selling the island weapons needed for its defence.

Although Taiwan and China have been governed separately for more than half a century, Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Taiwan has sought to build up its missile defence, arguing that China may have as many as 800 missiles pointed at the island within the next decade.

- AP

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