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Military pre-empts Chinese-Russian joint exercises

Soldiers from an elite marine brigade practice an amphibious landing in Linkou Township yesterday. The landing was part of a military exercise simulating a Chinese invasion aimed at seizing Taipei via Linkou. PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

On the eve of joint exercises by Beijing and Moscow, Taiwan's military yesterday staged an exercise simulating a Chinese invasion.

Television footage showed hundreds of fully armed marines landing on a beach in Linkou (林口) Township, Taoyuan County, as jet fighters streaked overhead.

In the scenario involving some 3,000 troops, Taiwanese forces drove off mock People's Liberation Army soldiers who had crossed the Taiwan Strait to seize the capital via Linkou, a navy spokesman said.

He played down the significance of the exercise, saying it was "routine."

The elite marine brigade involved in the exercise was moved earlier this year to Linkou from the south of the country.

China and Russia today begin a rare week-long joint exercise involving nearly 10,000 troops aimed at "strengthening their ability to fight terrorism and separatism."

The drills, known as "Peace Mission 2005," will start at Vladivostok and later move to the Yellow Sea and the area off the Jiaodong Peninsula in China's Shandong Province.

They have aroused keen interest in Washington, which will attempt to monitor them, Brigadier General Carter Ham of the US Joint Staff said earlier this month.

The Pentagon in a report last month said China could launch a surprise attack using short-range missiles and precision air strikes to "decapitate" Taiwan's political and military leadership before the US or other countries could intervene.

The report also said that China's continued weapons buildup is tipping the balance against Taiwan and could pose a credible threat to other armies in the region.

China has deployed up to 730 ballistic missiles opposite Taiwan, the report said.

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Chinese-Russian war games reflect a shaky alliance of sorts

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