Taipei, Jan. 11 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said on Tuesday that it is closely monitoring military movements in mainland China prior to the Chinese lunar new year holiday and Taiwan's March presidential election.
MND spokesman General Kung Fan-ding said mainland China's military usually conducts routine training for its new conscripts every year during the January-March period and will upgrade military alert in the lead-up to the Chinese lunar new year festival which falls on Feb. 4 this year.
If no major incidents take place in the January-March period, Kung predicted that the mainland Chinese military will carry out its routine exercises as scheduled, adding that the ROC armed forces will be closely monitoring military movements on the mainland.
Kung also called on the pubic not to panic over unconfirmed reports and made assurances that the MND will make public any major mainland Chinese deployments in accordance with the principles of national security.
Kung's remarks came after a report by a Hong Kong-based newspaper that mainland Chinese units in the Nanjing and Gungzhou military zones had upgraded their combat readiness to the third degree in light of Taiwan's presidential election slated for March 18. (By Flor Wang)
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