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"The exercise will be carried out in the framework of the fight against international terrorism and extremism, to respond to new threats and challenges," said Liang Guanglie, chief-of-staff of China's armed forces.

China faces challenges from separatists in its Muslim-populated Xinjiang region in the northwest, and Russia from Muslim separatists in Chechnya.

"This first joint military exercise in [our] history ... does not threaten the interests of other countries," Russian chief-of-staff Yury Baluyevsky said.

Under the scenario of the exercises, a fictive state torn by massive ethnic unrest has asked the UN and neighboring countries to assist in restoring order, Russian officials said.

Chinese and Russian troops under UN mandate are sent to separate the combatants and quell the unrest.

Defense ministers from countries in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which groups several Central Asian countries besides China and Russia, have been invited to watch, China's Xinhua news agency said.

Leading military officials from Iran, India and Pakistan are also on hand, the state-run agency quoted Russian diplomats as saying.

The thrust of the drills, known as "Peace Mission 2005," would be battle planning, transportation and deployment of troops and combat practice, it added.

Earlier Chinese reports said they will involve Russian paratroopers jumping onto the Chinese peninsula, while Russian ships will engage in amphibious exercises.

Air force exercises involving Sukhoi Su-27 fighter planes and Tupolev TU 95MSs and TU 22M-3s will round out the drills, with long-distance bombing runs and cruise missile attacks, reports said.

The exercises could also involve China's nuclear submarine fleet and anti-submarine warfare capability.

As the drills got under way, a group of Russian journalists were allowed for the first time aboard a Chinese warship, Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency reported.

The US is closely watching what goes on.

"We are following the exercises," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said this week. "We expect that they will be conducted in a manner that supports some mutual goal of regional stability shared by the United States, China and Russia."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs voiced a high degree of concern yesterday over an ongoing China-Russia joint military exercise and urged China to withdraw its 700-odd missiles aimed at Taiwan.

Peace and security in the Taiwan Strait is of extremely vital importance to the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world, and no country in the region is allowed to do anything that threatens regional peace and stability, foreign ministry spokesman Michel Lu told reporters.

Head of Pacific Command says US monitoring drills

AP , PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII

The new commander of the US Pacific Fleet said the navy is "very interested" in the first-ever joint military exercises China and Russia are holding over the next eight days.

In an interview about one month after assuming his post, Admiral Gary Roughead said he'll be watching to see what kind of equipment the two countries will use and how they'll work together.

"We're very interested in the exercise, we're interested in the types of things that they'll do," Roughead said Wednesday. "We're interested in the complexity and the types of systems that they bring to bear."

China and Russia plan to gather some 10,000 troops from their land, sea and air forces for joint drills dubbed "Peace Mission 2005" on China's northeastern coast.

Roughead declined to say whether the US would dispatch ships of its own to monitor the exercises, replying only that "I don't talk about the specifics of our operations."

The admiral said he was curious as to how the two navies would operate and how they would command and control their forces. He added that he would also be looking at how they would "integrate in a combined way."

Roughead, 54, takes command of the Pacific Fleet as the Pentagon mulls moving an aircraft carrier to either Guam or Hawaii from the US mainland and perhaps shifting more submarines to the region.

"There's a growing sense in our country and military that our future is going to be very heavily tied to Asia," Roughead said. "The imperative of maintaining stability and the prosperity in the region will be the key to our security and prosperity in the future."

Roughead, who has spent five of the last 12 years in Pacific posts, said he has been watching as China has upgraded its military, taking note as its submarine patrols and surface ships have pushed beyond earlier areas of operation closer to its eastern coast.

He said he was most curious about China's motives.

"Clearly they are modernizing very quickly, they're acquiring and producing some very capable systems. So it's easy to see the capability that they're building," Roughead said. "The great interest I have is to what purpose do they want to use the military. How do they seek to employ it in the future and what does it mean for the region?"

An annual Pentagon report last month said the Chinese military is buying new weapon systems while developing new doctrine for modern warfare and improving training standards.

"The big question is what's it for?" Roughead said. "It's still a little unclear what their intentions are in developing a military with the type of capability and reach they have."

Annette Lu urges Japan to adopt `TRA'

BY CHARLES SNYDER

STAFF REPORTER IN WASHINGTON

"Perhaps the best option is to have the KMT take care of the pandas."－ Annette Lu, vice president

Vice President Annette Lu called on the US to encourage Japan to pass a law similar to the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which has governed informal US-Taiwan ties and has committed the US to provide for Taiwan's defense after Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1978.

Lu made the suggestion in an exclusive Web interview with Foreign Policy magazine, published by a Washington think tank, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"If the United States could encourage Japan to pass a law like the Taiwan Relations act to regulate the relationship between Japan and Taiwan even without recognition," Lu said. "That would be most helpful."

"Thanks to the Taiwan Relations Act signed into law by [former president] Jimmy Carter in 1979, the substantial relationship between the US and Taiwan has been sustained," she said.

Lu began to advocate a Japanese version of the TRA last year. The idea seemed to gain some support after Feb. 19, when Japan joined the US in declaring maintanance of peace in the Taiwan Strait a joint security concern.

Parris Chang, the deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council, last weekend said he was sure that the US and Japan would come to Taiwan's defense if China attacked the country, in view of that declaration.

He described the Japanese declaration as a promise to defend Taiwan.

The TRA essentially sets out rules that require Washington to treat Taiwan in the same way as it treats internationally-recognized nations in all bilateral dealings. It also commits Washington to sell Taiwan the defensive weapons the country needs, and pledges to maintain the capacity to help defend Taiwan against Chinese military action.

Lu noted that the Canadian parliament is also considering a bill similar to the Taiwan Relations Act, "so it is time to encourage Japan to adopt such a formula."

The bill before the Canadian parliament was introduced in the House of Commons on April 4 by Jim Abbott, a Conservative member from British Columbia. While it copies several provisions directly from the Taiwan Relations Act, and would establish a similar informal diplomatic relationship, it does not contain the defense provisions present in the US act.

The bill, entitled the Taiwan Affairs Act, would apply all laws governing relations with foreign governments to Taiwan, support Taiwan's entry into international organizations, call on China to demilitarize the Taiwan Strait area, and allow Canada to issue visas to Taiwan's president and other top officials.

Canada switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the People's Republic of China on Oct. 13, 1970.

In other areas, Lu refused to say whether she is considering running for president in 2008.

"That is a sensitive question that I won't answer," she said. "It's too early to say."

She also said that if China decides to send two pandas to Taiwan, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) should be required to take care of them.

Beijing offered to send two pandas to Taiwan at the end of a visit to Beijing in May by KMT Chairman Lien Chan. The DPP government has indicated it might accept the pandas if they were sent under several strict controls.

In her interview, Lu said a main concern would be whether Taiwan could "really take care of" the pandas properly, and that "everything should be done in accordance with international norms regarding the care of endangered species."

If China is "truly in favor of sending the pandas, I wouldn't mind," she said.

"Perhaps the best option is to have the KMT take care of the pandas. The KMT is so rich, so why not?" Lu said.

Chinese tactics worry US trade group

CROSS-STRAIT TIES: The US-Taiwan Business Council has warned that Beijing's attempts to undercut the Chen administration could harm efforts to liberalize trade

STAFF WRITER , WITH CNA

China's attempts to use trade as a mechanism for undermining the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration is hampering further liberalization and progress toward the normalization of cross-strait trade relations, the US-Taiwan Business Council has warned.

In a statement about China's recent detente with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP), council president Rupert Hammond-Chambers expressed concern that any process to undermine the authority of President Chen Shui-bian's administration over trade negotiations will result in a political backlash in Taiwan that will slow or even halt incremental trade liberalization across the Taiwan Strait.

Hammond-Chambers said his council welcomes dialogue between China and Taiwan.

However, he noted that the unilateral announcement by the Chinese government that it will offer tariff-free treatment to certain Taiwanese fruit, following the China visits of the KMT and PFP leaders, is aimed at luring away Chen's supporters, such as fruit farmers in southern Taiwan, and planting the seeds of doubt about the DPP's ability to handle cross-strait trade.

While the council welcomes dialogue between China and Taiwan, it is clear that these initiatives are designed to undermine the position of Chen and the DPP, the statement said.

"If the DPP is to proceed with further liberalization in areas such as chip packaging and testing as well as 0.18-micron chip manufacturing, it will require a level of control over the process," it said.

Hammond-Chambers said the administration has become more cautious with regard to economic interactions with China, and will pursue policies to address the seemingly incremental erosion of its authority over cross-strait trade matters.

"The US-Taiwan Business Council believes that normalized trade across the Taiwan Strait will result in reductions in cross-strait political tension, increased efficiencies for Taiwan companies, and therefore price, quality, and time of delivery improvements for the myriad of US companies that participate in the integrated technology supply chain that links the US, Taiwan and China," he said.

"In addition, economic integration should also contribute greatly to bridging the political gap that remains between the two, and offer positive momentum to a relationship that has undergone an extended period of strain," he said.

The US-Taiwan Business Council, which comprises a large network of companies involved in business between the two countries, gives members access to people and information to help them succeed in their endeavors in Taiwan.

When asked for comment, DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim said Hammond-Chamber's remarks pinpointed some key problems.

If China keeps bypassing the administration and only conducts talks with opposition parties, China will end up having a negative impact on the liberalization and normalization of cross-strait trade, she said.

Commenting on Hammond-Chamber's remarks, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) deputy caucus convener David Huang said "a strong Taiwanese government is in the interests of both Taiwan and the US."

PFP caucus whip Hwang Yih-jiau said his party has never sabotaged the government's authority and urged the council to tell the government to attach importance on China's market and "not oppose for the sake of opposition."

Canadian foreign minister opposed to Taiwan bill

CNA , VANCOUVER

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said yesterday that Canada supports Taiwan's right to join the World Health Organization (WHO) but opposes a lawmaker's bill that would formalize bilateral relations.

During an interview in Vancouver, Pettigrew said the proposed Taiwan affairs act contradicts Canada's "one China" policy and will not be in the interests of the people of the three countries.

He said Canada has built constructive relations with Taiwan under the "one China" principle.

As the proposed Taiwan Affairs Act, which aims to "provide for an improved framework for economic, trade, cultural and other initiatives between the people of Canada and the people of Taiwan," could seriously damage Canada's ties with China, both his ministry and the federal government are against it, he said.

On the other hand, he went on, because the people of Taiwan have a right to information and services from the WHO and to contribute to the world community through participation in WHO activities, Canada supports Taiwan's bid to join the WHO as an observer.

Pettigrew said that supporting Taiwan's WHO status and opposing the proposed Taiwan affairs act are not contradictory. The former will help the people of Taiwan acquire assistance from the WHO, whereas the latter will touch on the nerves of Beijing and Taipei in their sovereignty dispute, he said.

Jim Abbot, a lawmaker from the opposition Conservative Party, put forward the bill, which passed its first reading in April, angering Chinese diplomats based in Ottawa.

As the ruling Liberal Party does not enjoy a majority in the House of Commons, both the Liberal government and the Chinese government were nervous that the bill might become law, given the prevailing sympathy of opposition lawmakers toward Taiwan.

The bill is being reviewed by the House's Foreign Affairs Committee, which will decide whether or not to make any amendments before putting it to a second reading, Pettigrew said.

Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper said last month that the chances of a private member's bill becoming law are very slim.

Harper said he expected the bill to be put to a second reading in November at the earliest, by which time, he added, it might have been altered or, if put to a vote, blocked.

China rises to combat growing unrest

PEOPLE'S ARMED POLICE: Concerned about the rise in social unrest and the need to preserve social stability, police are preparing for `real combat' with citizens

AFP , BEIJING

"They want rapid growth. The only thing to do then is to have rapid growth and tighten up." － David Zweig, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

China said yesterday it is setting up elite anti-terror and riot police units equipped with everything from batons to armored vehicles, in a sign of growing concern over social unrest.

The special force will cover 36 key cities and one of the first detachments, a 500-member squad, has already been formed in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, the Xinhua news agency said.

"We're training for real combat, so in our day-to-day exercise we require of our people that they behave as if they were in a sharp situation," Ge Hongjun, a Henan police officer in charge of training the unit, said.

The People's Daily, the Communist Party's mass-circulation mouthpiece, published a front-page commentary late last month warning that under no circumstances would threats against social stability be tolerated.

"Only if we preserve social stability will we be able to deepen reform and speed up development and solve the problems and contradictions emerging in the course of reform," the commentary said.

In an unusually frank statement, Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang also said recently that 3.8 million people participated in 74,000 protests last year, up from 10,000 protests a decade earlier.

"They are clearly concerned about this issue," said David Zweig, a China expert at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

"A protest begins in China every five minutes. If the protests run longer than five minutes, then there are two going on at the same time," he said.

Unrest has become more frequent as economic reform has created inequality and intensified competition for land and other scarce resources.

"They are accepting the fact that this kind of unrest is going to happen," Zweig said.

"They want rapid growth. The only thing to do then is to have rapid growth and tighten up," he added.

It is no coincidence that Henan Province is slated to get one of the largest contingents of anti-riot police.

The province is one of the most troubled areas in China, with regular reports of unrest.

About 30 people were injured in August of last year when a land dispute in a village near Zhengzhou escalated into a violent clash with paramilitary police armed with teargas and shotguns, according to reports.

Three months later, tensions between Han Chinese and the Muslim minority, also in a rural area near Zhengzhou, boiled over and locals reported several fatalities, according to reports.

China already has a unit that is dedicated to curbing massive riots, the paramilitary People's Armed Police with nearly 1 million members, and the ministry of public security could not be reached to comment on why a new force was being created.

It can be dispiriting to get too hooked up in the minutiae of political skulduggery and the mire of cross-strait shadow theater, so here's a curious story that might give readers a little boost. The boost comes from the knowledge that despite all of the administrative and political challenges facing Taiwan, low-level processes can and do function democratically and respectfully and can deliver results for the average person and community.

Kuangfu Township lies in the Hualien-Taitung valley, roughly in the middle of Hualien County, and is famous for its Amis Aboriginal community, Tabalong, one of the largest on the east coast.

A few months ago, the Directorate General of Highways decided that road signs referring to the Tabalong community should be updated to better approximate the sound of this Amis word, which means "white crab." But this progressive and respectful motive had a controversial result: the change in Chinese from Taibalang to Dabalang encouraged speakers of Hoklo (more commonly known as Taiwanese) to read the signs backward -- or forward, depending on your vintage -- as "huge penis."

This naturally dissatisfied a number of locals, and media reports indicated that the women in the area were particularly concerned (even if it is still not clear why only the women of the township should find an accidental reference to male genitalia troublesome, or indeed that women should necessarily find this troubling at all).

It is also true that some locals preferred the new Chinese version because of its more accurate rendition of the Amis pronunciation.

Nonetheless, a critical mass of community dissatisfaction brought a slew of Hualien County officials and agencies together in April. But they were unable to agree on a resolution.

After further consultation with residents and discussions with the national road authority, however, it was decided that the original name, Taibalang, would be retained.

And so, on Thursday last week, the amendment was duly made, and motorists have been left with one less amusing sight as they travel to and from Kuangfu and the east coast, and the residents of Tabalong can sleep easier knowing that they are less likely to be made fun of by travelers or in the mass media.

Regardless of the outcome, long gone are the days when a former president such as Chiang Ching-kuo could walk into an Ilan Aboriginal community and order that the name of a village be changed more or less on the spot, regardless of local sentiment, because of a perceived indignity or inauspiciousness in the traditional pronunciation. Or when the villages of an Aboriginal township -- Sanmin in Kaohsiung County -- could be named after the Three Principles of the People at the expense of far more beautiful names.

Even with the renaming of Taipei's Ketagelan Boulevard from Jieshou ("Long live Chiang Kai-shek") Road, which pointed to a nativization process and recognition of extinct and surviving Aboriginal culture, there were actually no "locals" involved -- just ideologues of various hues.

The experience of Kuangfu Township, on the other hand, is a small but encouraging reminder of what democracy means at the community level and how it can smoothly accommodate diverse local, ethnic and bureaucratic interests. Let there be more of it.

To compare the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), one only has to compare the 228 Incident with the Tiananmen Massacre.

Like his counterparts in the CCP, KMT chairman-elect Ma Ying-jeou's charm includes giving small favors in exchange for great chunks of political capital. One example is his mild criticism of Beijing's "Anti-Secession" Law, which, though costing him a Hong Kong visa, earned him good words from some media outlets, and a degree of trust from "middle" voters who hope he can stand up to China.

To say that Taiwan can begin to talk about unification with China only if the CCP reverses its verdict on Tiananmen -- his true intention in any case -- is like saying that the KMT would only have to reverse its own verdict on the 228 Incident to rule Taiwan in perpetuity.

The KMT has never apologized for the 228 Incident, which was a massive crime against humanity. The apology was rather offered by a maverick president, Lee Teng-hui, who was later expelled by the KMT. Restitution was paid by the wrong party -- Taiwanese taxpayers -- who had nothing to do with committing such horrendous crimes.

While the Democratic Progressive Party administration has had to remove officials and apologize because of there being too much rain and because of problems with infrastructure that have been neglected for decades, the KMT's murderers have never even recognized the crimes of 228, nor the White Terror that followed.

The CCP's reversal of verdict on the Tiananmen Massacre is no more important than a KMT reversal on 228. For Ma, however, there would be nothing better than the KMT giving a small favor such as a "verdict reversal" to entrench KMT authoritarianism all over again, and never have to transfer power to another party.

So, thanks but no thanks. Until the CCP transfers its power to a democratic system, no talk on unification is needed or will be allowed by Ma's real boss -- the Taiwanese. Until Ma apologizes for the KMT's horrendous crimes during 228 and the White Terror and does so sincerely, and until he recognizes the right of the Taiwanese to determine their own future, he is unfit to lead Taiwan.

The eight-day Chinese-Russian military exercise that opened yesterday has been dubbed "Peace Mission 2005."

The joint military exercise focuses mainly on an amphibious landing in the Bohai Gulf along the coast of northeastern China.

Both sides will be using elite assault troops in the exercise, and also their most advanced fighter-bombers.

The People's Liberation Army's (PLA) overall strategic concept in this exercise is to achieve air superiority prior to launching an amphibious attack. It is not difficult to see what the real target of such an exercise is.

Since 2002, China has held eight joint military exercises with foreign troops, but the current exercise with Russia is the first high-level joint exercise of such complexity that is using equipment of such sophistication.

Although Russia's overall military power still lags behind that of the US, it is still more powerful than that of China.

This is a valuable opportunity for the PLA to improve the efficiency of combined operations with Russia, and also to consolidate relations between the two nations.

This is an indirect indication of an improvement in Chinese-Russian relations, as both nations share the aim of increasing their influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

To ensure that the exercises are carried out to the highest standards, the Russian Army has carried out preparatory exercises in their far eastern territories.

The PLA, of course, can use this opportunity to achieve closer ties with senior Russian military figures and verify the effectiveness of the assault craft it is considering purchasing from Russia.

These assault craft include anti-submarine vessels, amphibious landing craft, guided-missile destroyers, nuclear submarines, Bear strategic bombers with guided missile capability, backfire bombers and long-range bombers.

The US has shown interest in both the scope and format of the drills, as well as the effectiveness of the weapons that are employed.

Washington is even more interested to learn about their methods of communication, the command and control mechanism, the application of electronic parameters and the exchange of intelligence between the two nations.

The exercises are expected to have a significant impact on the balance of power in Asia and are also an opportunity for China and Russia to make the US take note of their growing military strength.

Although China and Russia do not yet stand as equals, their influence in the region is likely to increase.

In the face of closer Chinese-Russian military cooperation, the US must strengthen its ties with Japan, South Korea and other key nations around Asia if it is to consolidate regional security.

As for Taiwan, if the arms-procurement bill can be passed, it will serve as a further safeguarding of the security of the Taiwan Strait.

It will also indirectly strengthen US-Taiwan relations through military cooperation -- and counter the disruption in regional power that has been created by the Chinese-Russian exercise.

Chang Yan-ting is a colonel in the ROC air force, an associate professor at the Air Force Institute of Technology and a strategy instructor at the Military College of the National Defense University.