China will unveil a range of unknown missiles during its Oct. 1 National Day parade, including intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles, state media said yesterday.
The new hardware on display will include conventional cruise missiles and short and medium-range missiles, the Global Times newspaper reported, citing an unnamed source in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
“These missiles are domestically designed and manufactured and have never been officially reported before,” the source, who is with the PLA’s strategic missile defense unit, was quoted as saying.
The weapons have already been distributed to the military and are ready for operation, the source said.
China’s missile program is causing concern overseas, particularly in the US, amid projections that it could soon tip the security balance in the Taiwan Strait.
A report last month by the Rand Corporation, a US think tank, said China was increasing both the quantity and quality of its short-range ballistic missiles, which could challenge the US’ ability to protect Taiwan from possible attack.
China issued a military policy white paper earlier this year, saying its missile program was aimed mainly at “deterrence.”
However, it said that it was also capable of “conducting nuclear counter-attacks and precision strikes with conventional missiles.”
China will stage a huge military parade and pageant in Beijing on Oct. 1 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of communist China.
The expert quoted by Global Times did not reveal the model names or numbers of the missiles. However, missiles believed to have been developed by China include the Dong Feng 41, a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with an estimated range of up to 12,000km.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Tuesday that China was redoubling efforts to build a fifth-generation fighter plane equivalent to the US’ F-22 and F-35. During the 60th anniversary of the PLA Navy in April, the commander of the PLA Navy mentioned a requirement for a fighter capable of “supersonic cruise,” which refers to an aircraft’s ability to fly supersonically for extended periods without using fuel-hungry afterburners.
China’s development of fifth-generation aircraft date back to the early 1990s, the WSJ said, and will start with two heavy fighters from the country’s two main military aircraft companies.
A Chinese source told the WSJ in early 2005 that the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, which developed the fourth-generation J-10 fighter, was considering the development of a medium-weight fifth-generation aircraft comparable to the F-35. Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, meanwhile, said in 2006 it was working on a single-engine forward-swept-wing fighter that would be highly maneuverable and potentially stealthy, the WSJ said.
Advances in electronics and engines in China’s earlier-generation aircraft will make these fighters, as well as fifth-generation fighters, more threatening to current and future US air forces, and make obsolete the fourth-generation fighter aircraft used by Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, the WSJ said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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