PLA FOCUSING ON PREVENTING TAIWAN INDEPENDENCE: U.S. REPORT
Central News Agency
2005-07-20 19:43:06
Washington, July 20 (CNA) China's military build-up has regional implications and a short-term objective seems to be focusing on preventing Taiwan independence, according to a U.S. government report released Tuesday. "The Military Power of the People's Republic of China, " a report to Congress, says the rapid rise of the PRC as a regional political and economic power with global aspirations is one of the principal elements in the emergence of East Asia.
China's emergence has significant implications for the region and the world, and the U.S. "welcomes the rise of a peaceful and prosperous China," it says.
But the U.S. still sees a China facing a strategic crossroads. Questions remain about the basic choices China's leaders will make as China's power and influence grow, particularly its military power, it adds.
According to the report, the People's Liberation Army's (PLA's) modernization has accelerated since the mid-to-late 1990s in response to central leadership demands to develop military options for Taiwan scenarios. "In the short term, the PRC appears focused on preventing Taiwan independence or trying to compel Taiwan to negotiate a settlement on Beijing's terms," says the report.
A second set of objectives includes building counters to third-party -- including potential U.S. -- intervention in cross-Strait crises, it says.
PLA preparations, including an expanding force of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, submarines, advanced aircraft and other modern systems, come against the background of a policy toward Taiwan that espouses "peaceful reunification, " according to the report, which notes that China has not renounced the use of force.
Over the long term, if current trends persist, PLA capabilities could pose a credible threat to other modern militaries operating in the region, the report says.
(By Jeorge Liu and S.C. Chang)
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