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CHINA DETERRED FROM MILITARY ACTION AGAINST TAIWAN: REPORT

ROC Central News Agency

2006-05-24 17:47:09

    Washington, May 23 (CNA) China is deterred from taking military action against Taiwan because it does not possess the military power to accomplish it with confidence, according to a U.S. Department of Defense report released Tuesday.

    The report on the People's Republic of China's military power claims that this is especially so when China's military action against Taiwan is confronted with outside intervention.

    The report says political and economic repercussions from other countries also keep China from embarking on a military adventure against Taiwan.

    Noting that Taiwan is China's single largest source of foreign direct investment, the report predicts that an extended campaign would wreck Taiwan's economic infrastructure, leading to high reconstruction costs and an insurgency against the occupation, which could also tie up substantial forces for years.

    The report also quotes the intelligence community as predicting that China would have difficulty protecting its vital sea lanes of communication while simultaneously supporting blockade or invasion operations against Taiwan.

    China's leaders are concerned about potential instability in their country caused by conflict with Taiwan, and a conflict would also severely damage the image China has sought to protect regionally and globally in the post-Tiananmen years, according to the report.

    If Beijing chose to use force against Taiwan prior to the 2008 Olympics, the report says, it would almost certainly face a boycott or loss of the games.

    Beijing's planning must calculate the virtual certainty of U.S. intervention, and Japanese interests, in any conflict in the Taiwan Strait, the report says, adding that China's leaders also calculate that a conflict over Taiwan involving the United States would give rise to a long-term hostile relationship between the two nations, which would not be in China's interest.

(By Jorge Liu and Taijing Wu)

ENDITEM/J