Pentagon warns of rising missile threat - China to Taiwan

[dArKeR]

By Charles Snyder
STAFF REPORTER IN WASHINGTON
Saturday, Apr 24, 2004,Page 1

Richard Lawless, deputy assistant secretary of defense

China has substantially increased its missile force facing Taiwan, a Pentagon official disclosed on Thursday.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Lawless told a Senate hearing that China now has as many as 550 short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) deployed against Taiwan. That is 50 missiles more than the 500-missile figure US authorities and other experts have been using in assessing the missile threat to Taiwan.

Lawless, whose job is to oversee Asia-Pacific security affairs, said the new figure will be used in the annual report on Chinese military power that the Pentagon will soon send to Congress.

"China continues to improve quantitatively and qualitatively the capabilities of its conventional armed SRBM force," Lawless told a hearing of the East Asian and Pacific affairs subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2004/04/24/2003137873

[Philestine]

1. Pretty scary story

But not as terrifying as

"Richard Lawless, deputy assistant secretary of defense"

What an unfortunate name, given his position.

What an earth are China proposing to do with that arsenal? Just flexing a little influential muscle?

[RoyGBiv]

2. Missile Defense

The administration will likely be putting out a lot of info like this to try to drum up some news in support of the missile defense plan.

[bemildred]

3. Yeah, I reckon we need to sell Taiwan some more missiles, too. nt

[kysrsoze]

4. Bingo!

What a bunch of horseshit. The way the US Govt has been acting toward other countries leaves them no choice but to bolster their defense systems.

Do people honestly think China really wants to fire missiles at us? Hell no. They want to get rich by selling us everything we buy. They're not stupid.