TAIWAN: KINMEN ISLAND: CHINA/TAIWAN TENSION MOUNTS
Mandarin/Eng/Nat
Only two miles away from mainland
China,
Kinmen Island is often sited by military experts as one of the most likely targets of a
Chinese attack.
Although
China's renewed threats have not made much of an impact on
Taiwan's second direct presidential elections, many outlying islands are guarded day and night by soldiers and heavy artillery - just in case.
Between the windswept coastlines of this
Taiwanese island and mainland China is a narrow strait of choppy waters, guarded day and night on both sides.
Vigilance is a way of life here.
Chinese artillery is pointed directly at
Kinmen, also known as
Quemoy, and this military outpost, only two miles away, is on alert.
Chiang Kai-shek's
Nationalist Party held on to Kinmen after it lost mainland China to
Mao Zedong's Communists in 1949.
Beijing still views Taiwan as a renegade province which must be taken back by force if necessary.
With less than four weeks until Taiwan's second direct presidential elections, Beijing has issued a new threat, warning that it would attack if Taiwan rebuffed indefinitely talks of reunification.
SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin)
"Our normal procedure is that
Taiwan military will be on alert on March 18, but it has not reached the
point where we will have to raise the level of military alert."
SUPER CAPTION:
Kung Fen-dien, Spokesman,
Defense Ministry
Located in the contested
South China Sea, about 270 miles from Taiwan's southern tip,
Pratas Island is now guarded by Taiwanese coast guard units with a garrison resupplied by ship and weekly flights of air force transports.
Soldiers here are in civilian uniforms, performing coast guard duties and military training on the island.
Local government will soon open the island to tourism, an attempt to reduce the risk of a Chinese offensive after heightening tensions across the
Taiwan Strait.
SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin)
"
The Communist China's air force, navy and especially the so-called
Number Two task force, the one that is in charge of firing missiles, are conducting routine exercises, no unusual movements have be noticed recently."
SUPER CAPTION: Kung Fen-dien, Spokesman, Defense Ministry
SOUNDBITE: (
English)
"Because of the issuing of the white paper, that makes
Washington more nervous about Beijing's impatience. So Beijing has to come up with some more clean signals that in the foreseeable future, Beijing would not push the question of unification or use of force, in exchange for less arm sales from Washington D-C to Taiwan."
SUPER CAPTION:
Andrew Yang, Analyst
China's
White Paper policy came at a sensitive time, with Taiwan preparing to hold the election on March 18.
Beijing also openly denounced opposition hopeful
Chen Shui-bian, whose party supports Taiwan's independence.
During the first presidential vote in
1996, China tested nuclear-capable missiles near Taiwan's two largest ports.
Washington immediately sent warships to the island, bringing the two giants perilously close to confrontation.
You can license this story through AP
Archive:
http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/6264ad5a3c882d46a4af8fb2ddb0cac0
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork