July 20, 2004
By Alice Hung
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Two Mirage fighter jets touched down on Wednesday on a usually busy Taiwan highway -- the first time in 26 years -- as part of war games to test the island's combat readiness against any attack by arch-foe China.
The drills by Taiwan, claimed by China and seen by security analysts as the most dangerous flashpoint in the Asia-Pacific, coincided with drills by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on the island of Dongshan off China's southeastern coast.
Taiwan's air force sealed off for six hours a section of the highway linking the island's north and south to allow the advanced French-made warplanes to land, re-fuel, load missiles, and take off in the early morning drill.
The last time the military jets practiced landing on the highway -- built to double as an emergency runway in times of war -- was in 1978 before the road was opened.
"The drill shows the air force's capability and determination to defend our air space," Mirage pilot Chang Wei-kwang told a news conference after completing his mission.
"The entire process was very smooth," Chang said at Hsinchu air base in northern Taiwan.
Hundreds of people with binoculars and cameras gathered on both sides of the highway to witness the rare drill, part of the annual Han Kuang, or Chinese Glory, war games that will culminate in joint-force exercises in August.
"Long live Taiwan!" some in the cheering crowd shouted as the planes landed.
HIGHER CHANCE OF MISCALCULATION
Military experts said the flurry of summer war games by Taiwan and China at a time of rising political tensions increased the likelihood of miscalculation.
"There is a possibility for the escalation based on the rising military show of force in the region," said Andrew Yang, military expert and secretary-general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, a private think tank.
"Having fighter planes landing on the tarmac of a highway is a very risky maneuver. But it is a very important step to test air force capability to adjust to the war time situation."
China sees the self-ruled democratic island as a renegade province and has vowed to attack if it declares statehood.
Beijing is convinced Taiwan will push for formal independence under President Chen Shui-bian and is preparing for a possible showdown with the island.
China kicked off war games simulating an invasion of Taiwan on Dongshan last week. Taiwan's military said on Tuesday the drills so far had been small and limited to ground troops.
Dongshan, 170 miles from the Taiwan-held Pescadore islands, also known as Penghu, has been the site of eight drills since 1996, when China threatened Taiwan in the run-up to its first presidential election.
Taiwan's Chen appears determined to adopt a new constitution in 2008, a move Beijing sees as a formal declaration of independence and which it has warned could lead to war.
Taiwan's leaders are betting China will not attack and jeopardise surging economic growth, seen as necessary to create jobs, avert social unrest and perpetuate Communist Party rule.
The island's leaders believe the United States would rush to its rescue. Western analysts say Taipei may be miscalculating Beijing's resolve and that Washington has no desire to be dragged into a conflict with China over Taiwan.
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