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Taiwan shows model missiles to strike China
2007-04-21
Taiwan's military this week simulated a battle using defensive short-range and cruise missiles that could hit military targets in China if fully developed, a defense spokesman and local media said on Saturday. During five days of annual drills, the military simulated a battle via computer featuring weapons that could hit targets on China's coast but not kill civilians, the spokesman said. "The damage suffered by both sides would be severe, finally calling for international mediation," Central News Service said. The Ministry of Defence has not decided whether to develop the weapons, the spokesman said. China has seen self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory since the civil war of the 1940s and sometimes threatens military force to make the island return. Taiwan now has Patriot anti-aircraft missiles and anti-ship missiles that could strike China, which is 160 kilometers (100 miles) away, but officials say these would not go far enough in a war. China is aiming 988 missiles at Taiwan, the Taiwan government believes, and pro-independence President Chen Shui-bian has said that by 2010 China would be capable of a large-scale invasion.
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