CEP0020 [07/13/99 18:39:37] PD5K6014.
CEP-->SOFIA
07-13-99
BEIJING TO TAKE ACTIONS TO INTIMIDATE TAIWAN: HK PAPER
Taipei, July 13 (CNA) Communist China may take a series of
actions against Taiwan, including show of force, after ROC President
Lee Teng-hui defined relations across the Taiwan Strait as "special
inter-state" ties, a Hong Kong newspaper said on Tuesday.
The Ming Pao Daily News quoted Beijing sources as saying that
senior mainland leaders consider Lee's "state-to-state or
inter-state" advocacy was aimed at challenging the communist
leadership and seceding Taiwan from China.
The Hong Kong paper said mainland China's Taiwan affairs special
task force called an emergency meeting last Saturday to discuss
feasible strategies against Taiwan in the wake of the release of
Lee's allegedly controversial remarks.
After the meeting, the Chinese Communist Party's Taiwan Affairs
Office immediately issued a strongly worded statement denouncing
Lee's remarks.
It was also decided during the meeting, the paper said, top
mainland leaders will also deliver speeches on suitable occasions in
the next few days rebuking Lee's "inter-state" statements made
in an interview with Germany's Deutsche Welle radio station.
In addition, the paper said, the mainland Chinese military plans
to conduct large-scale war games at Taiwan's doorsteps to intimidate
Taiwan and mainland authorities may also postpone a planned visit to
Taiwan by Wang Daohan, president of the Beijing-based Association
for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS).
Wang, mainland China's top negotiator with Taiwan, has been
tentatively scheduled to visit Taiwan either in mid-September or in
mid-October to reciprocate an ice-breaking visit to the mainland by
his Taiwan counterpart Koo Chen-fu last October.
The Ming Pao Daily News said mainland China's top military brass
have consistently advocated a hard-line stance toward Taiwan, adding
that the military exercises being planned by mainland military
authorities will be even larger in scale than those staged by the
People's Liberation Army in the run-up to Taiwan's 1996 presidential
election.
Nevertheless, the paper said mainland authorities have yet to
make a final decision whether all the above-mentioned action plans
will really be implemented, depending on Taiwan's activities
in the wake of the release of Lee's statements.
Quoting mainland military experts, the paper said Beijing
authorities believe that the US support for Taiwan has helped
fuel Taiwan's independence sentiment and that sales of US and
French weaponry to Taiwan has also helped beef up Taiwan's combat
capabilities.
Against this background, the paper said, mainland China's
planned military exercises will not also be aimed at intimidating
Taiwan's pro-independence elements but also at warning the United
States not to support Taiwan's independence movement.
Responding to the Ming Pao Daily News report, the Ministry of
National Defense (MND) said it has so far not detected any signs
showing that mainland China will stage large-scale military
exercises.
MND sources said mainland China has traditionally staged
military drills in its coastal areas between summer and autumn
annually. It also conducts military maneuverings in August and
October to celebrate its Aug. 1 Armed Forces Day and Oct. 1
National Day.
(By Sofia Wu)
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