Taiwan testfires homegrown missile

Officials hope the Sky Bow II will eventually replace U.S.-made Patriot missiles

PINGTUNG, Taiwan -- Taiwan has publicly test fired a locally made Sky Bow II surface-to-air missile for the first time, in a move observers say mainland China could interpret as a flexing of military muscle.

The firing of a Sky Bow II missile, with a range of 200 kilometers (120 miles), and three U.S.-made Hawk missiles was watched by President Chen Shui-bian at a base in the southern county of Pingtung.

It was the first launch open to the media and comes just a day after Chen said he wanted to resume talks with rival China.

The surface-to-air missiles, which form the mainstay of Taiwan's air defense, all hit their targets.

The Sky Bow II is designed to eventually replace U.S. made Patriot missiles purchased after they were successfully used by American forces to down Iraqi missiles in the 1991 Gulf War.

Praising the successful test, Chen said that without a reliable defense, Taiwan could not guarantee the continued development of its political system and economy.

He said China's military build-up and deployment of M-class missiles in the past two years along its southeast coast was a serious threat to Taiwan's security.

'No arms race'

"The situation in the Taiwan Strait seems calm at the moment, but Communist China has never publicly renounced the use of force against Taiwan," Chen said in a speech at the exercise.

"The main purpose is to build a force with sufficient self defense, not to engage in an arms race with Communist China," he said.

The Sky Bow II missile was developed by the state-run Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology.

Along with it's sister the Sky Bow I missile, this latest long-range model is deployed at six bases around Taiwan.

On Thursday President Chen said he wanted to send a delegation to China to initiate talks.

China considers the self-governing island to be part of its territory and has threatened to use force to reclaim it, in recent years buying advanced jet fighters from Russia and developing missiles itself.