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CHINA PREPARING FOR NUCLEAR WAR WITH U.S. OVER TAIWAN: DISSIDENT

ROC Central News Agency

2005-09-02 14:40:50

    Washington, Sept. 1 (CNA) A Chinese dissident has warned that China is preparing for nuclear war with the United States over Taiwan and that a split in the Beijing leadership might lead to a conflict in the near future, according to a report carried by the Washington Times Thursday.

    In an interview with the newspaper, Wei Jinsheng, a longstanding advocate of political reform in China, who now lives in the United States, also said that President George W. Bush and other U.S. leaders "do not fully understand the chance of a conflict breaking out," urging that they "must do more to avert it. "

    He also told the newspaper that he has heard from Chinese officials, including those in the military, that they are concerned about the growing possibility of a nuclear war. "Recent Chinese militry exercises and a Chinese general's threat to use missiles against U.S. cities are two signs of the danger," the dissident further said,

    Pointing out that China may have considered in the past that it was not time for them to confront the United States, Wei said that the Chinese now feel that they need to use these kinds of nuclear threats. "China is very serious about that. The nuclear threat from China is a substantial threat, not theoretical," he added.

    Wei also said that the leadership in Beijing has divided into two factions headed separately by incumbent Chinese President Hu Jintao and former President Jiang Zemin, adding that there are elements within the military who think that a war to retake Taiwan should begin as soon as possible. "Politically, differences between Hu and Vice President Zeng Qinghong, who in the past was a Jiang loyalist, appear to have been resolve temporarily, " Wei said, adding that "the accommodation appears related to a decision to use force in the future against Taiwan. " "Hu favors a conflict as a way to consolidate power over the military. Growing nationalist sentiment in China also has led to public calls for war over Taiwan, " he also told the newspaper, warning that "many wars in the past have started from such conditions."

    Wei told the newspaper that in order to avert war, the Bush administration should put more pressure on Beijing in the area of human rights and trade as well as try to influence the Chinese military by finding and supporting anti-war military leaders and drive a wedge between China and the communist government in North Korea. "The goal should be to reduce the voice of the people who want to go to war," the paper quoted Wei as saying.

(By Oliver Lin and P.C. Tang)

Enditem/Li