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Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007

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TAIPEI, Taiwan -- China's military strength is growing exponentially, making it imperative for rival Taiwan to upgrade its weaponry to maintain the military balance, Taiwan's president said Tuesday.

China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing still claims sovereignty over the democratic island and threatens to use force if Taipei moves toward formal independence.

"This year, (China) will have the readiness to respond to an emergency military conflict. By 2010, it will be prepared to fight a large-scale war, and before 2015, it will achieve the decisive capability to win a war," President Chen Shui-bian said Tuesday, without elaborating.

Chen also told a visiting delegation from Great Britain's Royal United Services Institute for Defense Studies that China had already installed almost 1,000 missiles on its east coast targeting Taiwan.

Since he took office in 2000, China had increased its total number of missiles from 200 to 988, Chen said.

Taiwan's military says the island's weapons supplied by Western nations are more advanced, and the training of military personnel — including pilots — is better than their equivalents on the Chinese side.

Taiwan's air force includes U.S.-built F-16 and French-built Mirage 2000 fighter jets.

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But Taiwan's advantage is slipping against China's rising military prowess, Chen said.

In order to prevent the military balance from sliding too far in China's favor, and to maintain a chance of victory in a possible conflict, Taiwan's government has said it needs a US$16 billion (€13 billion) U.S. arms package.

In December, the island's Legislature sent a portion of a long-delayed U.S. arms deal package to a budgetary committee, advancing its consideration.

The opposition had used its slight majority in the 219-seat Legislature to block the purchase of Patriot missiles, submarines and anti-submarine aircraft for two years on the grounds it would propel Taiwan into a no-win arms race with its communist rival.

© 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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