Taiwan cancels war games, mirrors China move

TAIPEI - Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian has asked the military to call off annual war games in a goodwill gesture aimed at mirroring China's cancellation of its joint-force military drills.

China had withdrawn about 3,000 soldiers from a military exercise on the southeastern island of Dongshan, which faces Taiwan, prompting speculation that Beijing had scrapped plans for major drills, the Taiwan defence ministry said on Monday.

"China has cancelled the military drills on Dongshan island, so we have decided that we will cancel the September 9 Han Kuang exercises," Chen, told reporters on Monday night on board a plane to Hawaii as he makes a six-day trip to Latin America.

"I think this is very important because we hope everyone on both sides of the Taiwan Strait can co-operate under the principle of peace for a win-win situation," Chen said in comments carried by the local TVBS cable station on Tuesday.

China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has threatened to attack if the self-governing island declares formal independence.

Tensions have simmered since the independence-leaning Chen won a second four-year term in March, exacerbated by reports that both sides were holding their annual war games this summer.

Chen plans to adopt a new constitution by 2008, a move that China views as tantamount to a formal declaration of independence by a renegade province.

In Beijing, China's military chief, Jiang Zemin, has urged the armed forces to raise the quality and quantity of their weapons, state media said.

Jiang made no mention of Taiwan when he made the call at a meeting with representatives of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Monday. Hu Jintao, his successor as Communist Party chief and state president, was also present.

"Improving the building of weapons and equipment is a task of top priority in our preparations for a military struggle," the People's Daily, a mouthpiece of the party, quoted Jiang as saying. Other newspapers carried similar reports.

The 2.5 million-strong PLA, the world's largest army, must be mentally prepared to win a war with existing armaments, newspapers quoted Jiang as saying.

Although Chen has said the new constitution will not touch on sovereignty issues, Beijing has warned of war.

Analysts said the two arch-foes may now be trying to reduce tensions, after recent warnings by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong against any change in the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.

The United States is also keen to see tensions diffused as its presidential election approaches in November, analysts said.

"There may be a tendency to de-escalate tensions," said Andrew Yang, a military analyst at the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, a private think tank in Taipei.

China and Taiwan "may be trying to moderate their approach, particularly with regards to the US presidential election."

However, Yang said China remains deeply suspicious of Chen and that has not fundamentally changed.

A China-backed Hong Kong newspaper said in mid-July Beijing had kicked off week-long, joint-force drills on Dongshan with 18,000 troops taking part. But a spokesman for Taiwan's defence ministry said large-scale exercises never took place.

A spokesman for China's military said on Monday he knew nothing about an exercise on Dongshan or any cancellation.

Chen met Taiwan Defence Minister Lee Jye on Monday and told him to cancel the Han Kuang, or Chinese Glory, live fire drills that were scheduled for September 9, the China Times said.

"Regardless of whether Communist China was sending out a goodwill gesture, our side must show goodwill," Chen was quoted as telling reporters, the mass-circulation China Times said.

- REUTERS