DATE=3/7/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA / TAIWAN / U-S (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259901
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO:  One of China's top generals is hinting that 
the United States is behind a plot to foil the 
island's reunification with the Chinese mainland.  VOA 
correspondent Roger Wilkison reports China is also 
justifying a nearly 13 percent increase in its 
military budget, saying the increase is needed to ward 
off a threat to its security.

TEXT:  Beijing's barrage of belligerent rhetoric 
continued Tuesday with the military's own newspaper 
quoting a leading general as saying Western enemies 
intend to subjugate and divide China.

The Liberation Army Daily quotes General Zhang Wannian 
-- vice chairman of the powerful Central Military 
Commission -- as saying the intention of what he calls 
Western enemy forces to subjugate China will not die.  
Diplomats in Beijing say that General Zhang is 
referring to the United States.  His comments were 
apparently part of a speech to the national 
legislature Sunday in which he warned that any move 
toward formal independence by Taiwan would mean war.

China sees U-S arms sales to Taiwan as emboldening 
pro-independence advocates on the island, and, as 
such, as an obstacle to reunification.  On Tuesday 
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao -- speaking 
through an interpreter -- called on Washington to halt 
such sales and cease blocking reunification.

            /// INTERPRETER ACTUALITY ///

      We're also firmly opposed to the U-S arms sales 
      to Taiwan.  We hope the U-S side strictly honors 
      its commitments and refrains from doing anything 
      that may cause tension in the Taiwan Strait and 
      doing anything that may harm or obstruct the 
      peaceful reunification of China.

            /// END ACTUALITY ///

Taiwan is reported to be shopping for new U-S weapons, 
including guided missile destroyers.  But Washington 
will not decide what it is willing to sell the island 
until next month.  

China announced Monday that it is increasing its 
military budget for this year to a record 14-point-
five billion dollars.  Mr. Zhu says China's per capita 
military spending remains the lowest in the world.  
But the Chinese spokesman says China has to build up 
its military to deal with what it considers a threat.

            /// INTERPRETER ACTUALITY ///

      If there's no threat, serious threat, to the 
      security and the sovereignty of a country, the 
      defense expenditure will not increase 
      substantively.

            /// END ACTUALITY ///

Mr. Zhu would not say where the threat to China's 
security is coming from.  But he told reporters they 
would understand what he was talking about.

Defense analysts say China's arms purchases and 
research and development costs are not included in the 
military budget but are hidden in other allocations.  
Taiwan's Defense Ministry says Beijing's real military 
budget is three to five times larger than the official 
figure.  (Signed)

NEB/RW/FC/KL 



07-Mar-2000 07:35 AM EDT (07-Mar-2000 1235 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.