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DRILLS ON FRONTLINE ISLANDS WILL BE HELD AS USUAL: DEFENSE MINISTRY

2004-02-10 16:36:37

    Taipei, Feb. 10 (CNA) Routine military exercises and drills on the frontline islands of Kinmen and Matsu this year will be held as scheduled, Ministry of National Defense spokesman said Tuesday.

    Maj. Gen. Huang Shey-sheng said at a news conference that the idea of establishing "demilitarized zones" across the Taiwan Strait as recently advocated by President Chen Shui-bian is "only an idea" that needs detailed planning and support before being put into practice.

    Noting that such demilitarized zones do not yet exist, Huang said scheduled war games on Kinmen and Matsu will not be affected by the president's idea and will be held as scheduled.

    In his first news conference with members of the media from home and abroad this year held Feb. 3, President Chen said that to avoid military conflicts, demilitarized zones should be established across the Taiwan Strait, including the removal of combat personnel, equipment and deployed missiles, to create a "buffer zone in terms of time and space."

    President Chen also called for the signing of a cross Taiwan Strait "peaceful interaction" accord and appealed for a prohibition on the use of military and economic blockades. He also advocated having representatives from both sides stationed in each other's capital cities to facilitate negotiations.

    Seconding Huang's remarks, Maj. Gen. Wang Kuo-chiang, a defense ministry official in charge of combat training affairs, said that there must be training drills so long as the nation maintains a military and such exercises scheduled to be held on outlying islands should not be scrapped.

    The defense ministry called a news conference Tuesday to make known the timetable for this year's military exercises.

    Wang said that the training drills are scheduled to be held between April and November this year and denied allegations that the exercises have been increased in number and delayed due to exacerbated tensions across the Taiwan Strait and the March 20 presidential election.

(By Deborah Kuo)

ENDITEM