I am so sick of hearing this line from the media...every time I do it makes me wanna 
Posted on 02/13/2003 6:44:44 PM PST by Davea
Thursday February 13, 7:51 PM
Taiwan on alert against any Chinese invasion during Iraq war
Taiwan Defense Minister Tang Yao-ming said the military had been put on a state of alert for fear China could take advantage of a war in Iraq to launch an invasion of the island.
Tang warned that Beijing's hostility towards Taipei was as strong as ever despite the unprecedented civilian flights between Taipei and Shanghai over the Lunar New Year holiday period.
"They have yet to give up their attempt to take over Taiwan by force. This was clearly stated by (President) Jiang Zemin in the Chinese Communist Party's 16th Party Congress documents," Tang told a press conference here.
China could decide to attack its arch rival when the world's attention was preoccupied with war in the Gulf.
"The Chinese communists could cash in on such an occasion," said Tang.
"They could sabotage and attack our banking systems, democracy and other social institutions which are superior to those on the mainland."
The defence ministry had also stepped up security and its monitoring of Chinese troop movements and improved its crisis management capability.
Taiwan and China, which split in 1949 at the end of a civil war, remain technically at war despite the commencement of civil contacts in 1987.
While ruling out any possibility of Taiwan's involvement in a US-led war against Iraq, the minister said President Chen Shui-bian's government would provide humanitarian aid to refugees.
Tang also defended Chen's recent announcement in which he ruled out the possibility of direct cross-strait flights even after the resumption of air links with the mainland following a half century hiatus.
Civilian planes would instead be required to fly on a detour for national security reasons even after direct cross-strait transport links are opened up, Chen insisted.
"The Taiwan Strait is a shield (for Taiwan). Wouldn't it be just what the Chinese communists wanted if the shield was removed?" Tang said.
Six Taiwan airlines operated a total of eight chartered flights to and from China for the first time during the Lunar New Year period from January 26 to February 10, but they had to transit Hong Kong or Macau.
Local business and industrial leaders have pushed for direct links between the island and mainland, insisting they would help lower shipping costs and facilitate economic ties across the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwanese businesses are estimated to have invested some 70 billion US dollars in the mainland since 1987.
Commenting on China's growing missile threat, Tang said Taiwan had been working to build its missile shield.
"Research and development efforts have got underway to build a missile defense system. Hopefully the target could be arrived at within the next 10 years," he said, without going into details.
The People's Liberation Army has deployed at least 400 ballistic missiles along the southeast Chinese coast targeting Taiwan, with the number expected to increase to 700 by 2006, according to the defense ministry.
Military analysts said the missiles could be used to paralyze Taiwan's economic centers, military commands, airports and bunkers should war break out with China.
Taiwan purchased three batteries of US-made PAC-II Plus missiles, an improved version of the Patriot, from the United States in 1993.
The three units are positioned to defend the densely-populated greater Taipei area from any attack by China, which lobbed ballistic missiles into shipping lanes off Taiwan during the island's presidential elections in 1996.
Ties with the mainland have substantially declined since Chen, of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, was elected president in 2000.
I am so sick of hearing this line from the media...every time I do it makes me wanna
First clue: they bring in Louis Farrakhan as a consultant for the "Million Man Swim."
Was he giving out classified info then or just saying he had seen it.
Why do you think there are problems in Taiwan and South Korea if not for U.S. interests?
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