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Military ready for Chinese surprise attack: minister
GETTING PREPARED:
The military is on a state of alert in case Beijing decides it is going to strike the country while the US is preoccupied with a war on Baghdad
By Brian Hsu
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Feb 14, 2003, Page 3
The military has raised its level of preparedness in case China decides to take advantage of a US-led invasion of Iraq by attacking Taiwan, Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (´öÂ`©ú) said yesterday.
Tang said that the military had assigned its joint opertions mechanism -- a coordination unit -- with the task of handling any military crisis that results from a war between the US and Iraq.
"The cooperation unit of the military has also established close links with local governments to deal with contingency situations that might happen in the near future," he said.
The minister said that particular attention was being paid to preparing for attacks based on China's unrestricted warfare and asymmetric warfare doctrines, which include sabotage and other tactics aimed at destabilizing society.
The preparations include activating the joint operations mechanism for crisis management in both the military and civilian sectors.
The preparations also involve the collection and analysis of intelligence on China and the international situation which might concern both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Tang said the military has also greatly improved its joint operations capabilities.
"Over the past year, the military has conducted 10 different types of joint exercises.
"These exercises have effectively upgraded the overall combat strength of the military," Tang said.
These exercises include joint air defense drills, joint amphibious operations, joint electronic warfare and joint anti-submarine warfare.
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