Taiwan reasserted its independence with an impressive military parade on its National Day celebrations. Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian on Wednesday also reasserted Taiwan is a sovereign country and not part of China.

The military parade is the first after 16 years, as Taiwan stopped such parades following its transformation to democracy in the early 1990s. U.S.-made F-16s, French-made Mirages and Taiwan-made IDF fighters flew in formation above the presidential building at the start of the parade. Later on, armored personnel carriers moved along with navy radar and satellite communication vehicles. The APCs were followed by launch vehicles carrying U.S. Patriot II and Avenger anti-missile systems, as well as locally developed ship-to-ship and air-to-air missiles.

"Taiwan is a sovereign county and Taiwan's future must be decided by the 23 million Taiwanese. Taiwan and the People's Republic of China are two countries that do not belong to each other," President Chen Shui-bian told a meeting before hosting the National Day parade.

Among the weapons displayed were Taiwan's supersonic anti-ship Hsiung Feng 3 missile and the anti-ballistic Tien Kung 3 missile. However, Taiwan cancelled the plan to display the Hsiung Feng 2E cruise missile (photo) which is still being developed and reportedly has a range of 1,000 kilometers, far enough to hit China's financial centre Shanghai.

Taiwan, seat of the exiled Republic of China since 1949, has been suffering increasing international isolation. China claims Taiwan is part of China and has threatened to recover Taiwan by force if Taipei declares independence or if it indefinitely delays reunification talks with China.

Somewhat in sync with Taiwan's display of military power, the Chinese Air Force announced that China’s air defense radar now almost matches similar networks in developed countries.