Taiwan parliament restores budget for cruise missile production

Jul 3, 2008, 22:35 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan's parliament has restored the budget for mass-producing Hsiung Feng 2-E cruise missiles which reportedly can hit Shanghai and Hong Kong, a newspaper said on Friday.

The parliament's Diplomatic and Defence Committee restored the budget for mass-producing Hsiung Feng 2-E Thursday evening, the United Daily News said.

Taiwan developed Hsiung Feng 2-E several years ago and planned to start producing them last year. But opposition parliamentarians slashed two-third of the 5.7 billion Taiwan dollar (178 million US dollar) budget, for fear of raising tension with China.

Hsiung Feng 2-E are developed by Taiwan's military Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, reportedly using US technology, but the institute denied using components from the US.

The Taiwan military reportedly planned to produce 245 Hsiung Feng 2-E over 8 years and deploy them on the Taiwan proper and on Taiwan's offshore islands.

According to the United Daily News, the US delayed supplying components for making Hsiung Feng 2-E last year. The Chungshan institute has received some supplies from the US, but is considering buying components from other countries, including Russia, and has launched talks with Russia.

Taiwan developed Hsiung Feng 2-E to counter military threat from China, which sees Taiwan as its breakaway province and has vowed to attack Taiwan if Taipei seeks independence.

China has deployed more than 1,300 missiles on its coast facing Taiwan, and continues to increase the number of missiles against Taiwan despite eased tension across the Taiwan Strait.