Post by Keith Heitmann on Jul 26, 2004 23:08:20 GMT -5
By Matt Kovac in P'eng-hu Islands, Taiwan
(Filed: 25/07/2004)
The most aggressive practice run to be staged by China for an invasion of Taiwan is terrifying the inhabitants of a tiny archipelago in the South China Sea.
The P'eng-hu Islands, which lie in crystal clear waters between Taiwan and mainland China, have been identified by Beijing as the first stepping-stone for an all-out assault on Taiwan, which governs the islands.
The Taiwan army limbers up during live-fire exercises
Last week, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) massed over the horizon to prepare a fearsome demonstration of its power - using 18,000 seaborne troops to launch a mock invasion of Communist-controlled Dongshan island, a part of China's Fujian province, 170 miles to the south-west.
Such war games are an annual event, but this year's exercise has a chilling intent. China's Communist mouthpiece, the People's Daily newspaper, declared: "This year's military exercise is a substantial warning to Taiwan's independence elements" - a reference to Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian, who plans constitutional changes to which China objects.
In the event of an invasion, the People's Daily added, "the PLA would immediately take the P'eng-hu Islands, forming an outpost position to control Taiwan island".
In the fishing port of Magong, the islands' capital, Chao Lee-mai gripped her nine-year-old son's hand tightly as she gazed out to sea and considered the effect of a Chinese invasion. "Devastation. There wouldn't be anything left but dust," she said.
Mrs Chao, 38, added: "I love this island, it's my home, but I'm planning to leave as I have no doubt that P'eng-hu will be attacked. I have no choice but to think of the safety of my family."
Lai Feng-wai, the 51-year-old governor of P'eng-hu, said: "We want peace. War will mean total destruction of P'eng-hu and its people. We live on an isolated island and I have been told that we may only be able to defend ourselves for 24 hours," he said.
Even that may be an overstatement: the chain of 64 low-lying islands, 37 miles long by 14 miles wide, has a population of just 90,000, most of whom live in fishing villages which dot the coastline. They are guarded by 10,000 Taiwanese troops, but they would offer little opposition to a missile attack and ground invasion by the 2.5 million-strong PLA.
Since nationalist forces under General Chiang Kai-shek first fled to Taiwan after losing a bloody civil war with Mao's Communists in 1945, successive Chinese leaders have threatened to reunite Taiwan and its outlying islands with the mainland by military force.
According to Chinese state media, the "offensive" drills involve the PLA's most advanced weaponry, including Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jets bought from Russia. Tensions have been heightened by Taiwan's parliament considering a bill to authorise the purchase of £11 billion of American military hardware, including offensive weapons that could strike inland China.
As a countermeasure to China's military exercises, Taiwan held its own defence drills last week.
Air force jets practised landing and refuelling on sealed-off motorways, in case the island's airfields are destroyed by a Chinese missile attack.
Philip Yang, a security and defence adviser to the government, said: "Beijing is truly worried about Chen's timetable for constitutional reform, which it views as a step towards formal independence. It wants to prove that the military is capable of attacking Taiwan. China is now ready and able."
(Filed: 25/07/2004)
The most aggressive practice run to be staged by China for an invasion of Taiwan is terrifying the inhabitants of a tiny archipelago in the South China Sea.
The P'eng-hu Islands, which lie in crystal clear waters between Taiwan and mainland China, have been identified by Beijing as the first stepping-stone for an all-out assault on Taiwan, which governs the islands.
The Taiwan army limbers up during live-fire exercises
Last week, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) massed over the horizon to prepare a fearsome demonstration of its power - using 18,000 seaborne troops to launch a mock invasion of Communist-controlled Dongshan island, a part of China's Fujian province, 170 miles to the south-west.
Such war games are an annual event, but this year's exercise has a chilling intent. China's Communist mouthpiece, the People's Daily newspaper, declared: "This year's military exercise is a substantial warning to Taiwan's independence elements" - a reference to Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian, who plans constitutional changes to which China objects.
In the event of an invasion, the People's Daily added, "the PLA would immediately take the P'eng-hu Islands, forming an outpost position to control Taiwan island".
In the fishing port of Magong, the islands' capital, Chao Lee-mai gripped her nine-year-old son's hand tightly as she gazed out to sea and considered the effect of a Chinese invasion. "Devastation. There wouldn't be anything left but dust," she said.
Mrs Chao, 38, added: "I love this island, it's my home, but I'm planning to leave as I have no doubt that P'eng-hu will be attacked. I have no choice but to think of the safety of my family."
Lai Feng-wai, the 51-year-old governor of P'eng-hu, said: "We want peace. War will mean total destruction of P'eng-hu and its people. We live on an isolated island and I have been told that we may only be able to defend ourselves for 24 hours," he said.
Even that may be an overstatement: the chain of 64 low-lying islands, 37 miles long by 14 miles wide, has a population of just 90,000, most of whom live in fishing villages which dot the coastline. They are guarded by 10,000 Taiwanese troops, but they would offer little opposition to a missile attack and ground invasion by the 2.5 million-strong PLA.
Since nationalist forces under General Chiang Kai-shek first fled to Taiwan after losing a bloody civil war with Mao's Communists in 1945, successive Chinese leaders have threatened to reunite Taiwan and its outlying islands with the mainland by military force.
According to Chinese state media, the "offensive" drills involve the PLA's most advanced weaponry, including Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jets bought from Russia. Tensions have been heightened by Taiwan's parliament considering a bill to authorise the purchase of £11 billion of American military hardware, including offensive weapons that could strike inland China.
As a countermeasure to China's military exercises, Taiwan held its own defence drills last week.
Air force jets practised landing and refuelling on sealed-off motorways, in case the island's airfields are destroyed by a Chinese missile attack.
Philip Yang, a security and defence adviser to the government, said: "Beijing is truly worried about Chen's timetable for constitutional reform, which it views as a step towards formal independence. It wants to prove that the military is capable of attacking Taiwan. China is now ready and able."