Washington, March 21 (CNA) The United States has observed no irregular military preparations on either side of the Taiwan Strait, said Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon on Tuesday.
Asked about media reports in Taiwan that the communist Chinese army would invade using 200,000 fishing vessels carrying 2 million people, Bacon said at a regular Defense Department briefing session: "All I can tell you is that, on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, the militaries seem to be calm and restrained. We don't see unusual military preparations or events taking place either in Taiwan or in China."
He did confirm a Washington Times report on Tuesday that an amphibious exercise is now being conducted in mainland China near Shanghai.
However, Bacon quickly pointed out: "It's the type of exercise that usually takes place at this time of year, in the spring training cycle. It involves only five ships. It's not a large exercise. It's very much inside the parameters of how China trains at this time of year, normally. We see nothing unusual on either side of the Strait militarily."
Asked if the Pentagon takes the reports seriously, he said: "All I can tell you -- what the facts are. We don't see any unusual preparations. People on both sides of the Strait are free to speculate about what could happen under certain conditions. But what we see is basically a political restraint in statements on both sides of the Strait, and we see military normalcy on both sides of the Strait at this time."
When the spokesman was asked whether the Pentagon has any knowledge of a plan by the Communist Chinese to use hundreds of fishing vessels to attack Taiwan, he replied: "No." (By Nelson Chung)
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