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Taiwan's Drills Draw Spy Ships From China, Other Countries: Report
Archfoe China and other countries have sent spy ships to waters around Taiwan ahead of the island's biggest annual military exercise this week, it was reported Tuesday. Taiwan's air reconnaissance squadron has discovered spy ships from China, France, India, Japan, South Korea and the United States, the Eastern cable television station said. "The reason they came here was that they hoped to gather relevant electronic data when the military launch a series of live-fire drills Thursday," it said. "As a matter of fact, Chinese spy ships were frequent visitors off Taiwan," it said. Earlier this month a fleet of Taiwanese naval and coast guard vessels chased after a Chinese spy ship found off southern Taiwan. The mainland vessel, called Xiangyanghung No. 14, was detected at some 25 nautical miles (37.9 miles) off Chiupeng base, where most of Taiwan's missile tests have been held. The upcoming drills are part of the "Hankuang 18" (Han Glory) exercise starting this month. "The purpose of the drills is to review the functioning of the country's military command system after a new law redefining the power of the defense minister and the chief of the general staff was enacted" on March 1, defense minister Tang Yao-ming said. The new law stipulates that the defense minister is entitled to order the "first strike" once a war breaks out, with the follow-up military operations being led by the chief of the general staff. The exercise is also designed to evaluate the coordination and combat capability of the forces following a series of modernization projects. All rights reserved. � 2002 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express 
US Military Commander Warns Of Cross-Strait Arms Race
Hong Kong (AFP) April 18, 2002China's growing weaponry targeting Taiwan will eventually force the US to consider boosting the island's missile defenses, the top US Asia-Pacific military commander said Thursday.
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