Taiwan Test Fires Missiles with Ranges up to 5,

choi

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马英九秘密视察中程导弹试射. VOA Chinese, Oct. 14, 2009.
http://www1.voanews.com/chinese/news/taiwan/mid-range-missile-20091014-64219907.html

* The VOA report, as well as a DPA report in English, is mostly based on

李志德、羅紹平、王光慈, 馬總統密赴屏東 視察中程飛彈試射. 聯合報 (United daily News, UDN), Oct. 14, 2009
http://udn.com/NEWS/NATIONAL/NAT1/5193000.shtml
("「中程飛彈」 ，射程約為三千到五千公里，以三千公里計算，射程遠及甘肅。換言之，包括華北、華中、華南的重要城市，都在射程範圍內。如果和解放軍相比，台灣自製彈道飛彈的射程，約和東風二十一型相當。* * * 台灣在蔣經國主政時期，曾經以「天馬」為代號，發展地對地飛彈，後來受到美國壓力中止。")

My comment:
(a) The UDN report also states, "二○○七年陳水扁主政時，雙十國慶的「國防表演」中，天弓三型防空飛彈首度亮相。" So far, however, Taiwan has not displayed even the outer appearance of the other two missiles test-fired yesterday (雄二E巡弋导弹、雄三超音速反舰导弹).
(b) China declines to comment, saying it has not received enough information.

** In contrast,

兰德公司：台湾需大量采购美先进武器.
http://www1.voanews.com/chinese/news/taiwan/Arm-Sales-20091012-63996037.html
("台湾国防部委托美国智库评估未来十年的防卫需求，研究结果指出，台湾在2020年之前必须花费上兆元新台币采购美国的先进武器。")


--------------------Separately
(1) Nicholas Consonery, Can Beijing save the Taiwanese president? Foreign Policy, Oct. 13, 2009.
http://eurasia.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/10/13/can_beijing_save_the_taiwanese_president

(2) Today, a Boston-based online newspaper Christian Science Monitor reports about healthcare, in the context of national/comprehensie coverage. Below are (a) an overview and (b) the healthcare in Taiwan.

(a) Alexandra Marks, US healthcare overhaul: five lessons from abroad; From Taiwan to France to Singapore, many countries offer more comprehensive coverage at a cheaper cost.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1014/p25s05-usgn.html
("Taiwan has one of the world's newest national systems. Set up in 1995, its goal was to incorporate the best ideas from around the world.")

My comment:
(i) Table of contents in the right panel of this web page.
(ii) There is no need to read the rest, if you are not interested in healthcare systems of other nations (such as France, Singapore, Japan and Germany), you can skip this overview.

(b) Jonathan Adams, In Taiwan, your medical file on a card. Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 14, 2009
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1014/p25s04-usgn.html
("But what's remarkable is that Taiwan's system is also comparatively cheap: Taiwan spends 6 percent of its GDP on healthcare, compared with the US's 15.3 percent.")

(3) Jonathan Watts, Taiwan aims to lead on 'smart grids.' Telegraph, Oct. 14, 2009.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/oct/14/taiwan-smart-energy-meters

My comment: The smart grid is translated as 智慧型電網.

(4) Leo Maliksi, Years of Hidden Dedication in Taiwan. Taiwan News, Oct. 14, 2009.
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1081453&lang=eng_news&cate_img=142.jpg&cate_rss=news_Art_Leisure_TAIWAN

Quote:

"'Another difficulty I faced when I just arrived was a kind of mentality; Chinese people are very polite,' he said. 'But for us Italians, we say yes or no right away. Inculturation was not so easy. But after some time, when I returned to Italy, they found my ways strange. For example, I would ask: "Have you eaten?" the usual question of Taiwanese.'"

Note:
(a) A dictionary does not have "inculturation" but has "enculturation"--the difference being the first letter.

enculturation (n): "the process by which an individual learns the traditional content of a culture and assimilates its practices and values"  www.m-w.com
(b) Lodung 宜蘭縣羅東鎮

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※ 修改:．Fenlix 于 Oct  2 04:21:36 修改本文．[FROM: 169.231.0.0]

choi

本文通过一路BBS站telnet客户端发布

高凌雲, 當著總統面…飛彈試射「卡彈」. 聯合晚報, Oct. 16, 2009.
http://udn.com/NEWS/NATIONAL/NAT1/5197862.shtml

My comment:
(a) Full disclosure: I was a victim of smear campaign of both United Daily News and China Times. Ever since, I have never read either.  They both lie all the time.
(b) So I did not believe the first news that Taiwan fired missiles as far as 5,000 km. And I did not believe the second news that those missiles failed even to ignite.
(c) The Ma administration is spineless when it comes to China. Dare it slight China two weeks after its National Day? Moreover, Iran and North Korea both act provocatively (toward US) by test-fire missiles. Even if Taiwan did Oct. 13, 2009, it would not disclose it PUBLICLY. See the only report so far from Liberty Times:

許紹軒, 馬看飛彈行程曝光 國安高層查誰洩密. Liberty Times, Oct. 17, 2009.
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/oct/17/today-p7-3.htm

I personally think
(a) that there were missile tests;
(b) that it is impossible that all missiles failed to ignite--otherwise, President Ma would not have been late for the pre-scheduled meeting with the delegation from Heritage Foundation; and
(c) that it (test) must have been deemed successful--otherwise the president would not be so elated as to broach it to the delegation.
(d) Naturally China, US--as well as other powers--must know what is going on, as they all have satellites, if they were not given a heads up.
(e) Perhaps either China or US is unhappy about the public revelation of the first news, somebody masterminded the second news, making the whole thing a farce.
(f) I did not believe the first news, because 聯合報 deliberately made the news murky, by using 中程導彈, which can be a translation of either medium range ballistic missile (MRBM, ranging 1,000 and 3,000 km) or intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM, ranging 3,000-5,500 km).

Wikipedia states
(i) that Missile Defense Agency (of United States) makes these definitions; and
(ii) few nations has the capability to produce either kinds of missiles: France, UK, US, Russia, China, India, Pakistan and North Korea. That is all.

(g) US Department of Defense submits to Congress annually the Military Power of People's Republic of China. In the 2009 edition
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/China_Military_Power_Report_2009.pdf
, this can be found:

Figure 22 China's Missile Forces

which indicates China has
(i) 60-80 CSS-5/Dongfeng ("DF")-21, with "estimated range" 1,750+ km
(ii) 15-20 CSS-2/DF-3, with "estimated range" 3,000+ km
(iii) 15-20 CSS-3/DF-4, with "estimated range" 5,400+ km

(h) Taiwan has never said in public that it has BALLISTIC missiles. It did say it TRIED to develop/deploy CRUISE missiles up to 600 km. To operate a ballistic missile, one needs space technology, for the missile by nature goes into an orbit. (I note that S Korea, with assistance from Russia, sent a rocket up to release a satellite. The mission failed when the satellite was hurtled at the wrong orbit.)

(i) On the other hand, a cruise missile need no space technology. The operational range for the noted Tomahawk cruise missile (US) is 2,500 km/1,500 miles. Less than the range given by 聯合報's first news report. Thus, for Taiwan to reach more than 3,000 km, Taiwan must have fired ballistic missiles.

(j) Taiwan so far has not said publicly that it has technology for two- or multiple-stage rocket/missile. Two years ago, when China shot the moon probe, Taiwan, under then President Chen Shui-bian estimated Taiwan could lift a satellite to earth orbit in two years; that is hte most Taiwan ever boasted.

Among CSS-2, 3, and 5, only 3 is a single-stage missile; the other two are two-stage--according to Sinodefence.com. For Taiwan to reach 3,000-5,000 km, as 聯合報 hinted in the first news report, Taiwan MUST have TWO-stage ballistic missiles.


-------------Separately
(a) 印度说达赖喇嘛可以访问有争议邦. VOA Chinese, Oct. 18, 2009.
http://www1.voanews.com/chinese/news/china/india-china-20091017-64677092.html

(b) 中国印度摩擦波及邻国, VOA Chinese, Oct.
http://www1.voanews.com/chinese/news/china/CHINA-INDIA-20091016-64485062.html
("有舆论说，印度和中国迟早会有一战。")

My comment; "有舆论说"?  In India?

【 在 choi 的大作中提到: 】
: 马英九秘密视察中程导弹试射. VOA Chinese, Oct. 14, 2009.
: http://www1.voanews.com/chinese/news/taiwan/mid-range-missile-20091014-64219907.html
: * The VOA report, as well as a DPA report in English, is mostly based on
: 李志德、羅紹平、王光慈, 馬總統密赴屏東 視察中程飛
: (以下引言省略...)

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※ 来源:．一路BBS http://yilubbs.com [FROM: 128.197.0.0]

※ 修改:．Fenlix 于 Oct  2 04:22:38 修改本文．[FROM: 169.231.0.0]