OK, I've confirmed the Washington Times story in another source, although I don't know anything about the source, muzi.com, which claims to be "independent."
>>[Muzi News (http://dailynews.muzi.com): 2000-02-28] BEIJING -- China
warned the United States on Monday that it would pay a high price for
any military intervention over Taiwan, saying it had the weapons to launch
a long-range counter-attack, AFP reported.
The warning in the army newspaper PLA Daily coincided with a visit by
Admiral Dennis Blair, commander of US Pacific forces, who was due to
hold talks with Chinese military officials on issues including Taiwan
Monday.
It also came as press reports in Hong Kong said Chinese President Jiang
Zemin had issued an alert for People's Liberation Army (PLA) forces
including those on the coast along the Taiwan Strait.
Professor Zhu Chenghu, deputy director of the army university's institute
of strategic studies, said in the PLA Daily article the United States would
do well to steer clear of conflict over Taiwan.
"If they get involved, the American policy makers will have to consider the
great pressure they will shoulder and the high costs they will pay," he said.
"China is not Iraq, nor Yugoslavia ... she is a country with certain strategic
attack capabilities and far distance attacking capabilities. So it would not
be wise to fight against a country like China." Zhu's comments across a whole page of the military's official newspaper
was flanked by menacing pictures of Chinese military excercises last year
simulating an invasion of Taiwan.
He also warned the United States that any intervention over Taiwan would
severely damage its relations with other Asian countries.
"It will seriously damage its economic interests. And if the United States
got involved in the conflict, the war could not be ended according to the
timetable set by the US.
"US security interests in East Asia will be seriously damaged, and
American forces may be forced to withdraw, like they did from Vietnam,"
said Zhu. Tension over Taiwan has been steadily growing since China last week
issued a new policy paper warning the island it would face an invasion if it
continued to reject reunfication through dialogue. Taiwan responded to the threats with defiance, while the United States in
turn warned Beijing against pursuing the military option. The war of words comes ahead of the March 18 presidential elections in
Taiwan, and analysts have viewed the bellicose rhetoric emanating from
Beijing as a thinly-veiled attempt to intimidate voters and candidates. Ahead of the 1996 elections in Taiwan, which has been ruled separately
from the mainland since 1949, Beijing carried out large-scale military
exercises off Taiwanese waters.The United States responded by sending two naval battle carrier groups
to the area.<< |
