A dismal missile test where six of 19 missiles failed left Ma Ying-jeou, president of the Republic of China in-exile, sheepish at the test site. Ma called for better training but the missile failures may indicate a larger problem.
The failed missile test had one spectacular failure which almost came back down on the launch pad but crashed harmlessly into the nearby ocean. The missile tests closely followed China’s test flight of a new, large stealth fighter capable of striking Taiwan.
The military testing coincides with a state visit to Washington, D.C. from the leader of the People’s Republic of China, Hu Jintao. Taiwan is occupied by the exiled Kuomintang government of the Republic of China, driven from China in 1949. The two Chinese governments have been feuding for six decades over control of the prosperous island.
Taiwanese independence was long illegal to advocate and is still discouraged by both Chinese governments and the United States. The U.S. role in the fate of Taiwan is spelled out in the San Francisco Peace Treaty that names the United States as the “principal occupying Power” of the island.
Taiwan was Japanese territory during World War II and the sovereignty of the island remains in dispute because of a “strategic ambiguity” imposed on Taiwan by the United States.
In 2009, the District of Columbia U.S. Court of Appeals urged President Barack Obama to end the “political purgatory” of Taiwan but the White House has failed to respond. Obama’s trip to China, which led to Hu Jintao’s current visit, gave Obama the opportunity to pay lip service to the so-called “one China” doctrine that leaves no room for Taiwan.
Taiwan media reports have Ma Ying-jeou concerned about the Chinese visit to Washington and the missile tests may have been a way to show displeasure but backfired with the poor showing on the firing line.
China has threatened military invasion of Taiwan if certain conditions are met. At the same time Chinese military advances have made it more difficult for the U.S. to defend Taiwan if it were attacked by China.
The United States is the primary weapons supplier to the Republic of China in-exile and media reports have identified the U.S.-built Sparrow missile as the one that failed shortly after launch.
Source: Michael Richardson - Boston Progressive Examiner
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