04.07.2004, 10:45
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Zitat:Posted: 04 July 2004 1413 hrs
China to conduct military exercises this month in warning to Taiwan
BEIJING : China is to carry out its largest military exercises of the year this month aimed at sending a "substantial warning" to Taiwan separatists, state media reported Sunday.
The military drills will take place on Dongshan Island in southeastern China's Fujian province, just 150 nautical miles west of Taiwan's Penghu Island, the Beijing News said.
"The Dongshan Island exercises are different from other exercises... It is a joint exercise of the three militaries (army, air force and navy). It's the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) largest-scale exercise this year," the Beijing News said.
The report did not say when the drills would start or how long they would last but similar drills in 2001 lasted for four months.
...
Western diplomats in Beijing had played down the anticipated drills, saying the number of troops involved was not that large and that the exercises appeared to be routine.
"They are sending a signal by holding the exercises in Fujian, but it is not a provocation due to the size of the exercises," one diplomat told AFP, referring to the location of Fujian, which faces Taiwan.
The exercises would be smaller than the 2001 drills, when some 100,000 soldiers engaged in amphibious exercises and mock warfare at sea aimed at sinking an aircraft carrier.
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Nuclear-powered submarines, warships, the latest model missile destroyers and a guided missile brigade would also be involved in the exercises.
"It's not a preventive military manoeuvre against Taiwan indepedence as they were in the past," the report said.
China considers Taiwan part of its territory awaiting reunification. The island has been separated since the end of a civil war in 1949.