Sat, Jun 19, 2004 page3

• Chinese military `expert' warns of Taiwanese terror

  • AFP
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  Pro-independence forces in Taiwan might launch terrorist attacks on China, Chinese state media charged yesterday as it linked Taiwan to the banned "evil cult" Falun Gong.

  In what appeared to be a new campaign to blacken the name of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), the China Daily ran an opinion piece headlined "Terrorism part of Taiwan separatist agenda."

  Citing military experts and researchers on Taiwan studies, it said terrorism could be used "in an attempt to split the island from China."

  It also condemned the US "for instigating Taipei to engage in terrorism to hurt China's core national interests."

  The article was published a day after a group of legislators led by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) left for the US to study options for planned billion-dollar weapons purchases. This week Taiwan also tested two US-made Patriot missiles.

  It also follows a Pentagon report suggesting that Taiwan needs ballistic missiles and land-attack cruise missiles capable of hitting China as a "cost-effective means of deterrence."

  Targets that were cited include the massive Three Gorges Dam and the 468m-high Oriental Pearl TV tower in Shanghai.

  A Beijing-based military expert identified as Yan Dong (嚴冬) was quoted in the China Daily as saying the attack scenarios exposed the tip of the iceberg of "Taiwan independence terrorism."

  "That may well suggest pro-independence forces in Taiwan are turning to terrorist measures to help pursue their political goal of formal independence for the island," Yan said.

  Yan argued that the Taiwanese military might be planning terrorist attacks "on state leaders, media organizations, nuclear-power plants and hydroelectric projects on the mainland."

  "That's because splittist forces are increasingly feeling they cannot win a cross-strait war, given the mainland's growing economic and military power," he said.

  The report went as far as linking Taiwan independence forces to the Falun Gong, saying Taiwan separatists "once supported the outlawed Falun Gong cult to hijack mainland satellite TV programs from the island in September 2002."

  Li Jiaquan (李家泉), a senior researcher with the Institute of Taiwan Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Washington should be blamed "for Taipei's terrorist schemes."

  "As Taiwan's biggest arms supplier, Washington has always been playing an ignominious role on the Taiwan issue by lending covert or overt support to pro-independence forces in Taiwan," he told the China Daily. "It is shameless for the United States, which has been urging a global anti-terrorism campaign, to encourage Taipei to promote terrorism."

  Taiwan's defense ministry spokesman, Major-General Huang Suei-sheng (黃穗生), declined to comment.

  "It is our policy not to comment on any opinion piece," Huang said.

  But a high-ranking military officer, who asked not to be named, yesterday said the report was "too ridiculous to warrant comment."

  Additional reporting by Lindy Yeh
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