纽约时报 中国大陆与台湾各自炫耀实力

正值台湾举行16年来的第一次双十日阅兵，大陆媒体报道中国防空雷达的覆盖如今几乎可媲美发达国家的类似网络。

　　根据《解放军日报》网站的报道，一位来自中国空军司令部的高级官员方磊（音译，Fang Lei）表示，已经安装全天候防空雷达的无缝网络，覆盖全部中国领空。文章援引方先生的话说，这个网络的侦察和监视能力“非常接近”发达国家部署的那些，并可以在进攻性行动中辅助中国部队。

　　军事专家表示，发展高性能防空系统以配合中国日益强大的地对空导弹和战斗机拦截器已经称为中国人民解放军的头等要务。台湾和美国的高级军事官员承认，中国空中防御的提高是该国快速军事现代化的重要迹象。

　　这个系统直接挑战自治的台湾，而台湾寻求对抗大陆日强的军事力量。在双十日电视演讲中，台湾亲独立的陈水扁总统呼吁国际社会要求中国（大陆）撤走瞄准台湾的导弹，停止威胁性的军事演习。他还呼吁中国（大陆）效法台湾，采纳民主。他表示只有通过中国的民主觉醒，才能有持久的世界和平。

　　双边的紧张因陈水扁及其执政的民进党推动以台湾之名加入联合国的公投而加剧。高级中国官员谴责公投是迈向台独的一步，并警告危险的后果。

　　陈水扁决定恢复传统的双十日阅兵，分析家认为此举是意图把人们的注意力引向台湾面临的威胁。而且它还旨在在明年的立法会及总统选举之前为执政党募集支持。

　　为了回应中国大陆的集结，台湾已经研制了射程足以抵达上海的远程地面攻击巡航导弹。中国还没有对台湾的导弹计划作出回应，但布什政府已经表示它反对台湾海峡两岸任何一方的进攻性导弹。

　　多数分析家认为台湾会继续研制这种导弹，多达500枚导弹将被部署在台湾的可移动发射台和战舰上。根据五角大楼的年度中国军事报告，到去年年末，中国大约部署了900枚短程弹道导弹对着台湾。

　　在九十年代初以前，以西方的标准来看，中国的军事硬件大部分很落后，预计台湾较先进的攻击型飞机可以执行防卫任务。但台湾的分析家表示台湾由美国和法国制造的攻击型飞机再也无法确保穿透中国大陆的空中防御。民进党国际事务部主任赖怡忠（Lai I-Chung）认为，随着军事平衡朝有利中国大陆的方向倾斜，台湾难以接受布什政府反对新型导弹的建议。

　　如果美国卷入北京与台湾的冲突，中国的武器集结也可能对美国构成威胁。驻日美军司令赖特（Bruce Wright）本月早些时候表示，如今美国进驻亚洲的F-15和F-16飞机都几乎无法穿透中国的空中防御。他认为只有隐形的F-22或联合攻击战斗机（处于研发阶段）可能执行针对中国的任务。（原标题：中国宣布空中防御的成就；作者：DAVID LAGUE）

China Announces Gains in Air Defense

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By DAVID LAGUE

Published: October 11, 2007

BEIJING, Oct. 10 — The blanket of China’s air defense radar now almost matches similar networks in developed countries, state media reported today, in an announcement that coincided with Taiwan’s first National Day military parade in 16 years.

On Wednesday in Taipei, Taiwan held its first National Day military parade in 16 years.

A senior officer from Chinese Air Force headquarters, Fang Lei, said a seamless network of all-weather air defense radars had been installed to cover all Chinese airspace, according to a report on the Web site of the official military newspaper, the Liberation Army Daily.

The network’s detection and surveillance capability was “very close” to those deployed in developed countries and could also assist Chinese forces in offensive operations, the report quoted Mr. Fang as saying.

The development of a high-performance air defense system to complement China’s increasingly potent surface-to-air missiles and jet fighter interceptors has been a top priority for the People’s Liberation Army, military experts say.

Senior Taiwanese and American military officers have acknowledged the improvement in Chinese air defenses as a significant indication of the country’s rapid modernization of its military.

This system is a direct challenge for self-governing Taiwan as it seeks to counter the mainland’s growing military power. China regards the democratic island as part of its territory and has threatened to use force under a range of circumstances, including in the case of a formal declaration of independence by the government in Taipei.

In a televised National Day speech today, Taiwan’s pro-independence president, Chen Shui-bian, called on the international community to demand that China withdraw its missiles aimed at the island and halt threatening military exercises.

He also called on China to follow Taiwan’s example and adopt democracy.

“We believe that only through China’s democratic awakening can there be lasting peace in the world,” he said.

Tensions between the two sides have been mounting over the determination of Mr. Chen and his governing Democratic Progressive Party to press ahead with a public referendum on the island’s bid to enter the United Nations under the name of Taiwan rather than its official title, the Republic of China.

Senior Chinese officials have condemned the referendum as a step toward independence and warned of dangerous consequences for Taiwan.

Mr. Chen’s decision to revive the traditional military parade, on the day that commemorates the 1911 overthrow of China’s last imperial dynasty, was an effort to draw attention to the threat facing Taiwan, analysts said.

It was also aimed at galvanizing support for the ruling party ahead of legislative and presidential elections next year.

China holds its national day on Oct. 1, the date the ruling Communist Party proclaimed the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

In 1991, Taiwan’s ruling Kuomintang party halted the parades in an effort to placate Beijing.

As part of its military response to China’s buildup, Taiwan has developed a long-range, land-attack cruise missile with sufficient range to strike targets as far away as Shanghai.

There had been speculation that this missile would be paraded today alongside Taiwan’s other advanced hardware, but officials in Taipei said early this week that the weapon was still under development and would not go on display.

China has yet to react to Taiwan’s missile plan, but the Bush administration has said it is opposed to offensive missiles on either side of the Taiwan Strait.

Most analysts expect Taiwan to continue development of the missile, which would have a payload of 400 kilograms, or 882 pounds, and a range of up to 1,000 kilometers, or 621 miles, according to defense analysts and reports in military journals.

Up to 500 of the missiles could be deployed on mobile launchers on Taiwan and on the island’s warships, analysts said.

Up to the end of last year, China had about 900 short-range ballistic missiles deployed opposite Taiwan, according to the Pentagon’s annual report on China’s military published in May.

Senior governing party officials in Taiwan reject suggestions that the new missile is an offensive weapon. At a time when China’s air defenses are improving, they say, the missile would give the island’s armed forces the option of striking back at crucial military and strategic targets on the mainland if China launched an attack.

“Defense means we should be able to strike back, at least taking out their military targets to prevent second- or third-wave attacks,” said Lai I-chung, director of the Democratic Progressive Party’s Department of International Affairs. “Missiles are relatively easy and cheap and will help us meet this need.”

Until the early 1990s, when China’s military hardware was largely obsolete by Western standards, Taiwan’s more advanced strike aircraft could be expected to carry out that role.

But analysts in Taiwan say that the island’s American- and French-made strike aircraft could no longer be assured of penetrating China’s air defenses.

In addition to sophisticated surface-to-air missiles, the Chinese Air Force now has hundreds of advanced Russian-designed fighters.

And earlier this year, China unveiled a locally developed fighter that compares favorably with its current Western counterparts, according to military specialists.

As the military balance shifted in China’s favor, it was difficult for people in Taiwan to accept the Bush administration’s opposition to the new missile, Mr. Lai said. Senior defense officials in Taiwan have argued for decades that the island needs to have the capability to strike targets in China.

China’s arms buildup could also pose challenges to the United States if it is drawn into a conflict with Beijing over Taiwan. The commander of American forces in Japan, Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, told The Associated Press earlier this month that China’s air defenses were now almost impenetrable to the American F-15 and F-16 aircraft stationed in Asia.

Only the stealthy F-22 or the Joint Strike Fighter still under development could carry out missions over China, he said.

“Our planes are much older than the planes they would be matched against,” Mr. Wright said, the Associated Press reported.

“For the first time in history, we are seeing another nation, in this case China, with newer fighters than we have.”