China's Military Build Up A Threat To Region Says Taiwan (moved from ATSNN), page 1

Taiwan's president Chen Shui-bian, has spoken out and blasted Beijings military and diplomatic policies claiming that China wants to be the dominant power in the region and is a huge threat. Missiles with ranges of 10000 kilometres could be aimed at the USA, Japan and Australia yet Mr Chen has said the world seems more concerned with the 700 missiles pointed at Taiwan and the Chinese defence capability is not just a threat to Taiwan but to the whole Asian Pacific area.

www.theaustralian.news.com.au
China was expanding its worldwide espionage operations, Mr Chen said, and its defence build-up was "a military expansion that should be considered a threat".

"Because there is a lack of transparency in China's defence budget, the US and Japan both believe that China's real defence budget is two to three times the size of its nominal defence budget," he said.

Mr Chen pledged to build up Taiwan's military capabilities.

"Just as US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has stated, in the absence of an external threat, with China bent on expanding its military, we must wonder what the reason is," Mr Chen said. He believed China's "main aim is to become a hegemon in the Pacific Ocean".

His warnings came as Australia moved closer to exporting uranium to China, with confirmation of imminent talks on a nuclear co-operation deal.

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These warnings from Taiwan come hot on the tail of the news that Australia is negotiating sale of it's Uranium to China.

The Taiwanese president has not declared independence from China after China has threatened that the declaration would provoke military assault upon the nation. Taiwan still believes it is a separate nation from China but the government is doing it's best not to provoke China into annexing or invading Taiwan.

[edit on 12-8-2005 by Mayet]