Thursday, September 04, 2008

Taiwan: One Lawmaker's Wish for More Missiles

Well, this is interesting! Blurb:
Taiwan should go ahead with plans to develop long-range cruise missiles capable of striking China even though its ties with Beijing are now warming, a ruling party lawmaker said Monday.

Shuai Hua-ming of President Ma Ying-jeou's Nationalists said the island should continue developing tactical weapons such as the Hsiung Feng IIE surface-to-surface cruise missile, a program started during the administration of Ma's predecessor, Chen Shui-bian.

. . . "Because the mainland keeps developing missiles with higher precision and longer ranges, we must keep up our weapons programs intact," Shuai, an influential retired army general, told the AP.

I could not have said it better myself.

As for Shuai, a retired military man, eh? And from Ma's own party? I need to take a closer look at this guy. Also, look at this detail about Shuai:

Shuai said Ma has yet to present a clear, plausible defense strategy even as he pursues a vaguely defined peace treaty with China.

ABSOLUTELY. (Remember Ma's ludicrous babbling about defense in his Time interview?) Anyway, I'm glad at least one legislator has a clue about Taiwan's perilous situation. As I stated recently, the stakes have never been higher.

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