Brave Winds Blow Across the Straits
Michael Goldfarb adds his strident support for Taiwan's deployment of the Hsiung Feng 2E (Brave Wind) land attack cruise missile, even if the Bush administration is balking. There are two other choice pro-Taipei quotes in the Defense News article Goldfarb excerpts worth emphasizing.
The officials said the HF-2E makes tactical and strategic sense.
«It is the politicians and diplomats who have problems with it,» the MND official said. «How many times have they asked Taiwan not to politicize defense? KMT [The Kuomintang] kills it because it pleases Beijing and Washington, and they think Beijing won't attack Taiwan once they are in power [in 2008]. A dangerous thought.»
(…)
Alexander Huang, a senior associate at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies who lives in Taipei, believes the HF-2E project can help Taiwan in missile-related technologies.
«The LACM [land attack cruise missile], if successfully developed, could be a tactical deterrent, and strategic bargaining chip in possible military CBMs,» or confidence-building measures, he said.
«Should a military conflict be unavoidable, firing LACMs with the Taiwan military emblem can indirectly give the U.S. some flexibility in diplomatic terms. Close command-to-command consultation and real-time notification between Taipei and Camp Smith will reduce the risk of unintended incidents. In short, I am not naïve nor hawkish, but I support the program.»
If all else fails, then perhaps the environmental argument that President Chen Shui-bien tabled on a trip to the Spratly's is a decent opening move.
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