Defense official downplays harsh Chinese comments

A spokesman for Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense, Rear Admiral Liu Chih-chien (劉志堅), repeated to the Taipei Times yesterday that the military had detected no unusual PLA activity amid recent political tensions.

"The [People's Liberation Army's (PLA)] high-ranking officials have preferred to bully the nation with language, but we do not have to respond to their provocations," Liu said.

Those statements came after reports in recent days that the Chinese military has been ordered to step up preparations to prevent Taiwanese independence.

Yesterday the People's Liberation Army Daily published a front-page report on earlier comments from General Guo Boxiong (郭伯雄), China's highest uniformed military leader, vowing to contain any Taiwanese push toward independence.

"The entire army must step up its sense of hardship and delve into robust military training, enliven the spirit of struggle among officers and ... fully raise combat capabilities," the military's mouthpiece quoted Guo as saying.

Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan (曹剛川), another vice chairman of the military commission, also said the armed forces would step up its preparedness for war.

"[President] Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) decision to cease the National Unification Council and unification guidelines is a dangerous step toward Taiwan's legal independence," the People's Liberation Army Daily quoted Cao as saying. "We must maintain high alert to the dangerous and risky nature of the splittist activities of Taiwan independence forces."