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CHINA TAIWAN TENSIONS MOUNT

News Archives 2005

Last week, two Mirage fighter jets touched down on a usually busy Taiwan highway in the first such drill in 26 years to test the island's combat readiness against Chinese attack. Chinese leaders warned the United States against selling advanced weapons to the island.

China Militia Hold Exercises Opposite Taiwan-Media

BEIJING - Chinese militia staged a two-day weekend exercise off the southeastern coast, following up on drills by the People's Liberation Army this month amid simmering tensions with arch-foe Taiwan, state media said on Monday.

About 3,000 Chinese officers, men, militia and paramilitary police took part in the two-day exercises off Fujian province that ended on Sunday and which involved militia boats providing front-line support at sea, the online edition of the official Xinhua news agency said.

China suspects Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian will push for formal statehood after winning a second four-year term in March and it is preparing for a possible showdown with the self-ruled, democratic island, which Beijing has claimed as its own since their split at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.

Xinhua did not say whom the exercises were aimed at but they came on the heels of week-long land, sea and air drills that simulated an invasion of Taiwan. About 18,000 troops took part in those war games on Fujian's Dongshan island.

The exercises come not only when China is putting on a show of force opposite Taiwan but amid signs top leaders in Beijing are jostling over how best to deal with the island.

China's Communist Party chief Hu Jintao edged away from his usual practice of deferring on military issues to his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, who is still chairman of the decision-making Central Military Commission.

In widely publicized comments, Hu told a study session of the party's elite Politburo last week that China should "promote the coordinated development of national defense building and economic construction."

Analysts said Hu's comments signaled he was becoming increasingly assertive vis-a-vis Jiang and did not want an arms race with Taiwan to weigh down the Chinese economy.

Hu, who is also vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, said China "must unwaveringly walk the path of peaceful development," the overseas edition of the official People's Daily said on Monday.

Analysts saw the mention of "peaceful development" by Hu as a swipe at Jiang. In a bid to retain his stamp on foreign policy, Jiang has barred Hu from publicly using such phrases that refer to China's peaceful rise, the New York Times has reported.

The simmering rivalry between the two leaders was underscored by the front-page publication of Hu's remarks -- accompanied on the same page by a report on Jiang's latest military edict.

Taiwan, seen by many security analysts as the most dangerous flashpoint in the Asia-Pacific region, topped the agenda when U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Adm. Thomas Fargo, the top U.S. military officer in Asia, visited Beijing this month.

Chinese leaders warned the United States against selling advanced weapons to the island.
The United States will sell arms to the Republic of China (Taiwan), despite Beijing's objections, because of the growing Chinese missile buildup opposite the island, senior Bush administration officials said yesterday.

That message was delivered to Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing last week by National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, in response to Chinese complaints about Taiwan, including the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, said two officials who discussed some details of the meetings on the condition of anonymity.

Miss Rice also said in the meetings with Mr. Hu and former President Jiang Zemin, chairman of the powerful Communist Party commission that controls the military, that North Korea's nuclear-weapons program must be halted soon.
"We asked them to make clear to North Korea that time was a factor and that we didn't have forever," the official said.

Miss Rice also pointed out that North Korean connections to the covert Pakistani nuclear-supplier group led by Abdul Qadeer Khan showed that Pyongyang has a highly-enriched-uranium-based weapons program (HEU), a charge that China has disputed in the past. Miss Rice told the Chinese that "A.Q. Khan was not engaged in academic research," the official said. "He was a nuclear-weapons expert, and his network existed for that purpose, and that North Korea has an HEU program."

On Chinese opposition to Taiwan arms sales, Miss Rice said a weapons deal has been under way since April 2001 and is reaching the point of actual transfers, the official said. Pending sales are expected to include Patriot anti-missile systems and P-3 anti-submarine aircraft. Taiwan also is negotiating to buy up to eight diesel electric submarines and several guided missile destroyers.

The Chinese leaders were told that although the Bush administration does not favor "unilateral change" by either China or Taiwan, arms sales are needed "because China's missile buildup has created an imbalance on the [Taiwan] Strait, and we need to correct that." "They need to understand that," the senior official said.

China has been deploying up to 75 short-range missiles a year within range of Taiwan for the past several years.
Beijing also is set to kick off large-scale war games near Taiwan this month, exercises that in the past were used as an attempt at political intimidation.

At the Chinese Embassy, a spokesman called in reporters to protest U.S. support for Taiwan.
"We are gravely concerned over the recent U.S. moves on the Taiwan question. We strongly urge the U.S. side to stop selling advanced arms to Taiwan and cut the military links between the U.S. and Taiwan. Stop any official exchanges with Taiwan authorities. Stop supporting Taiwan to join the international organizations where statehood is required," spokesman Sun Wiede said.
The senior administration official said the spokesman's comments were less strident than those heard in Beijing, where both Mr. Hu and Mr. Jiang told Miss Rice that China would not "sit idly by" while Taiwan moved to formal independence.

"They came at us very heavily on Taiwan," said the official, who took part in the meetings. The Chinese said they appreciated the U.S. position that it did not support Taiwanese independence, but also protested the administration's adherence to the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which permits defensive arms sales.

Miss Rice urged the Chinese to take up an offer made by Chen Shui-bian, the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan), in his inaugural speech in May for China to resume talks with Taipei.

U.S. decision-makers played out this month a crisis-simulation drill, dubbed Dragon's Thunder, based on a growing Chinese military threat to Taiwan. Western military analysts have said China wants to avoid conflict with Taiwan if possible, but the People's Liberation Army is preparing for worst-case scenarios.

Taiwan's leaders are betting China will not attack and jeopardize surging economic growth, seen as necessary to create jobs, avert social unrest and perpetuate Communist Party rule. The island's leaders also believe the United States would rush to their rescue in the event of conflict. Western analysts said Taipei may be miscalculating Beijing's resolve and that Washington has no desire to be dragged into any conflict.

China's resolve was shown in the weekend exercises involving militia boats firing ground-to-air guided missiles and providing first aid and ship repair services, state media said.

Last week, two Mirage fighter jets touched down on a usually busy Taiwan highway in the first such drill in 26 years to test the island's combat readiness against Chinese attack.

Mon Jul 26, 4:20 AM ET (Reuters) By Benjamin Kang Lim