Taiwan to deploy its own supersonic antiship missile

As the saying goes, fight fire with fire… From the annals of the CDF:

Taiwan to deploy supersonic anti-ship missile in two years: report

TAIPEI, Sept 1 (AFP) – 09:36 GMT – Taiwan is set to deploy home-made supersonic anti-ship missiles in two years to fend off a perceived Chinese military threat, it was reported Sunday.
The project to develop the Hsiungfeng III missile, with a range of 300 kilometers (186 miles), was in a final stage and deployment of the advanced weaponary system would be completed in two years, the Liberty Times said.

The missile, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology under the defence ministry, would be able to reach China’s Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, as well as waters east of Guangdong province, the paper said.

Defense ministry officials were unavailable to comment on the report.

Taiwan has deployed various surface-to-air, air-to-air and ship-to-ship missiles developed by the institute, which is also developing the cruise missile “Hsiungfeng II E.”

Taiwan is striving to beef up its missile capabilty in a bid to thwart military threats from China, which has at least 300 ballistic missiles stationed along its southeast coast targeting Taiwan.

Defence chiefs have warned the military balance in the Taiwan Strait could be tipped in favor of China by 2005 if Beijing continued its arms buildup at the present pace.

China has repeatedly warned it could use force against Taiwan if it attempted to declare formal independence.

Beijing has regarded the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification since the two split in 1949.