China marks Army Day with warning for Taiwan
Posted on: Monday, 31 July 2006, 23:37 CDT
BEIJING (Reuters) - China marked "Army Day" on Tuesday with a warning from its defense minister that the mainland would never tolerate Taiwan independence, but he stopped short of directly threatening the use of force against the self-governed island.
Cao Gangchuan also vowed that China's military modernization would continue, in remarks carried in the Liberation Army Daily that were thick with political rhetoric but lacking specifics on new arms purchases or weapons expenditure.
"(We will) never tolerate Taiwan independence, and will never permit Taiwan independence splittists to use any name or method to separate Taiwan from the motherland," Cao said at a banquet to mark the 79th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army.
"We will uphold the central government's policy direction on the Taiwan question; with the utmost sincerity and hardest work will push for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification," Cao said.
"At the same time, we uphold the sacred duty to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity and security," he said in language typically used by top Chinese leaders on Taiwan.
China views self-ruled democratic Taiwan as a wayward province that must be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary.
The two have faced off since 1949 when Nationalist forces fled to the island after losing a civil war to the Communists.
Cao said China would push the modernization of its forces, especially its capacity for self development of weapons.
"We must strengthen the building of weaponry, focusing on developing advanced arms and pay attention to the proper use of these weapons to raise the forces' fighting strength," he said.
The United States, obliged by its Taiwan Relations Act to help the island defend itself, has repeatedly urged China to explain its military build-up, worried it will alter the balance of regional power.
China's defense expenditure is officially projected to be $35 billion in 2006, up almost 15 percent from the previous year, but many foreign experts believe the real figure is significantly higher.
In an annual defense white paper issued on Tuesday, Japan's defense ministry also urged China to disclose military data to allay neighbors' fears about Beijing's defense build-up.
The Liberation Army Daily, decked out in red headlines for Army Day, carried only two pictures of military hardware in the whole edition -- one of a fighter jet based on a 1950s Soviet design, and the other of antiquated anti-aircraft guns.
The rest of the pictures were of happy soldiers chatting or looking at revolutionary photographs and a beaming Cao on the front page toasting foreign military attaches.
Source: REUTERS
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