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CHINA'S MILITARY BUILDUP THREATENS CROSS-STRAIT STATUS QUO: REPORT

ROC Central News Agency

2006-05-24 13:11:34

    Washington, May 23 (CNA) China's continuing military modernization is shifting the cross-Taiwan Strait balance in Beijing's favor and threatening the status quo across the strait, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Defense.

    The 2006 Annual Report on the Military Power of the People's Republic of China stated that the growth of China's military buildup is outpacing Taiwan's arms acquisitions, making it increasingly critical that Taiwan strengthen its defenses.

    While the United States has offered to sell to Taiwan defensive systems to address the imbalances in the areas of air and missile defense and anti-submarine warfare, the budget proposal for the procurement has been stalled in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan since 2004, the report noted.

    Meanwhile, through the transformation of U.S. armed forces and global force posture realignments, the United States is maintaining the capacity to resist any effort by Beijing to resort to force or coercion to dictate the terms of Taiwan's future status, the report said.

    It said China has adopted a coercive strategy -- with political, economic, cultural, legal, diplomatic and military means at its disposal -- to try to resolve the Taiwan issue in its favor.

    While continuing to offer a peaceful resolution under the "one country, two systems" framework for unification, China has deployed some 710-790 short-range ballistic missiles opposite Taiwan, it said.

    The report said China is unwilling to renounce the use of force because it sees the threat of force as an integral part of its overall policy to dissuade Taiwan from pursuing independence and to pressure it to unify with China.

    It said Beijing has codified this threat and attempted to legitimize it through the enactment of the Anti-Secession Law in March 2005.

    The circumstances in which Beijing has historically claimed it would use force against Taiwan include: a formal declaration of independence by Taipei; undefined moves "toward independence;" foreign intervention in Taiwan's internal affairs; indefinite delays in the resumption of cross-strait dialogue; Taiwan's acquisition of nuclear weapons; and internal unrest in Taiwan, it pointed out. "China's 'red lines' are vague, which allows Beijing to determine the nature, timing and form of its response," the report said.

(By Jorge Liu and Y.F. Low)

ENDITEM/Li