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MND PLAYS DOWN CHINA-FRANCE NAVAL EXERCISE

2004-03-16 14:35:44

    Taipei, March 16 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) played down a rare mainland Chinese-French joint naval exercise Tuesday, saying it is mainly to practice maritime emergency search and rescue skills.

    MND spokesman Maj. Gen. Huang Suey-sheng made the remarks at a regular news conference. During the press briefing, Huang was asked whether the ongoing joint military exercise is aimed at influencing the results of Taiwan's presidential election and its first-ever nationwide referendum to be held simultaneously this weekend.

    According to information collected by the military, Huang said, two French warships visited the northern mainland Chinese port city of Qingdao from March 12-16, and Tuesday's joint training exercise off Qingdao -- about 1,250 km (780 miles) from Taiwan's northernmost point -- was part of the itinerary of the two French warships' mainland visit.

    Huang said the joint training drill was mainly designed for mainland Chinese and French naval personnel to practice basic maritime emergency rescue and relief skills and tactics.

    Mainland China's official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday that in Tuesday's exercise, a French anti-submarine destroyer and a corvette class warship would take part beside a mainland Chinese destroyer, a supply vessel and a ship with a helicopter landing pad.

    The drill was mainland China's first to be conducted on the high seas with a major Western power, Xinhua said. Mainland China held its first-ever joint naval exercise with Pakistan last October.

    French President Jacques Chirac, keen to strengthen ties with mainland China and win a firm footing for French business in the rapidly growing mainland market, sided with Beijing in January in opposing Taiwan's plan to hold a referendum on missile defence alongside its March 20 presidential election.

    Taiwan responded by suspending high-level government exchanges with France.

    Mainland China has derided the referendum as a plot to promote Taiwan independence. It menaced Taiwan with missile tests and war games in the run-up to the island's first direct presidential elections in 1996 to try to dissuade voters from re-electing then-President Lee Teng-hui. The move backfired, with Lee winning by a landslide.

(By Sofia Wu)

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