Pentagon report misses the mark

The paranoids may be at it again:

Friday, July 19th, 2002, Taipei Times
PFP lawmaker says Pentagon report misses the mark
By Brian Hsu
STAFF REPORTER

PFP Legislator Nelson Ku (ÅU±R·G), a former navy commander-in-chief, yesterday highlighted what he said is absent from the US Department of Defense’s annual report on China’s military power.

“The report fails to emphasize China’s anti-satellite capabilities. China has weapons that are capable of knocking out satellites,” Ku said.

“It does not mention the fact that China’s long-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching US territory could increase to 100 in number by 2020,” he said.

“Also absent from the report is a fact that the US military might not be willing to acknowledge — the US military is not able to track the Kilo-class submarines that China bought from Russia, even using its best nuclear submarines,” he said.

Ku made the remarks yesterday at a meeting the PFP held at the legislature. In addition to PFP lawmakers, defense officials, led by Deputy Defense Minister for Administrative Affairs Kang Ning-hsiang (±d¹ç²»), and scholars in defense-related fields attended the meeting.

Ku said he believes the Pentagon report has two versions — one for public consumption and another that is classified.

“The classified version should exist given that a US Congressman was recently quoted by a local newspaper as saying that the report the Pentagon made public is not the same as another report with the same name that he had access to in May,” Ku said.

“Some important parts of the classified version of the report are apparently missing from the one made public,” he said.

Ku said the report the Pentagon made public contains little new information about China’s military, adding to speculation a classified report exists.

Retired Lieutenant-General Shuai Hua-ming («Ó¤Æ¥Á), who attended the meeting his in capacity as a military analyst, offered his interpretation of the report.

“A hidden message in the report is that the US is not likely to intervene in the event of war between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait,” Shuai said.

“The report suggests this as it highlights China’s new strategy of using surprise attacks to solve the Taiwan problem over the course of a few weeks. The US will not be able to make any response in just a few weeks,” he said.

Shuai said that even if the US wanted to intervene, it would take 137 days for its rapid-reaction forces to reach Taiwan.

Related link: The Source
Modified by xxn at Fri, Jul 19, 2002, 04:01:00