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China raises combat readiness
2000-04-29
HONG KONG - A Hong Kong newspaper said on Saturday that China had increased military readiness as Taiwan President-elect Chen Shui-bian had shown no sign he would agree to the "one China" policy. The Hong Kong Economic Times quoted sources from mainland China as saying the People's Liberation Army (PLA) was studying plans on how to attack arch rival Taiwan. The independent Chinese-language newspaper said Guangzhou, Nanjing and five other military regions had been order to increased combat readiness. It gave no further details. Officials from both China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Defense declined to comment. But a Taiwan military spokesman said the island's armed forces had received no signs that China had raised military readiness. "We have received no information to indicate this," he told Reuters. On Friday, Chinese military mouthpiece, the People's Liberation Army Daily, said China had built roads as well as aviation and telecommunications facilities for military use in the coastal city of Xiamen, opposite Taiwan. The report did not specifically mention Taiwan, but it said China had stepped up infrastructure construction in the area in recent years to "adapt to the need of future warfare." China's top envoy on Taiwan affairs, Wang Daohan, said on Friday Beijing and Taipei should settle their differences peacefully through dialogue. But Taiwan must accept the "one China" principle as a precondition for negotiations. Relations between China and Taiwan have been tense since Chen's election in March. Chen's Democratic Progressive Party espouses independence from China, though Chen himself has soft-pedalled the issue. China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and has threatened to use military force if it declared independence. Senior Chinese envoy Tang Shubei said on Thursday "disaster and confrontation" were in store if Taiwan rejected the "one China" principle, a formula that Chen had already ruled out.
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