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Official: China unlikely to wage war with Taiwan |
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April 27, 2000 TAIPEI, APR 26 (AP) - China is engaging in a new round of psychological warfare with Taiwan, a Taiwanese official said Wednesday, one day after the island's military claimed China is stepping up military exercises.
Beijing was trying to intimidate Taiwan into starting reunification talks because Chinese leaders lacked the confidence to act on their threats of an all-out war with the island, said Lin Chong-pin, vice-chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council which handles Taiwan's China policy.
"Unlike Mao Tse-tung and Deng Xiaoping, China's current leaders lack the war experience and therefore the authority over the military to push themselves to the brink," Lin said.
The Taiwanese military's report Tuesday that China has stepped up drills for bombers and other warplanes on its eastern coast scared some investors in the Taiwanese stock market, which slid 4.3 percent Wednesday.
Chinese H-6 bombers and other aircraft have been flying long-range sorties off China's coasts in recent weeks as part of exercises that also involved naval vessels, the military said, citing its intelligence sources.
However, China said the exercises were normal and aimed at enhancing the capability of its military.
On Wednesday, some Taiwanese defense officials questioned the ministry's assessment of the Chinese exercises. Sun Tao-yu, a vice-minister of defense, said there was "nothing unusual" about the drills, which are usually held during the spring.
Taiwanese defense officials had said the flights might be a possible warm-up for a new intimidation campaign as Taiwan's next president, Chen Shui-bian, prepares to take office May 20.
On Wednesday, Lin agreed that the sorties were part of China's psychological warfare, something it has practiced for years.
China and Taiwan have been governed separately since the two sides split amid civil war in 1949, and Beijing has repeatedly threatened war if Taiwan refuses to reunify and seeks a permanent break.
Also on Wednesday, the president-elect paid a courtesy call to former military chief Hau Pei-tsun, who brushed off the recent reports about China's military exercises.
"Of course I know nothing about their training plans, but it looks like normal air force exercises," Hau told reporters.
"If communist China wanted to bomb Taiwan, it would not begin by using the bombers," said Hau, who once also served as premier.
China has been building up a large arsenal of missiles, and many defense experts say a Taiwan attack would begin with a missile barrage that would knock out the island's anti-aircraft defenses.
Chen urged China to use peaceful methods to improve ties between the two sides.
"We want peace, harmony, cooperation," Chen said. |