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- BEIJING (Agence France Presse)
- China has 17 spy satellites that continuously monitor the movements of
the US military and which could also be used to guide a "saturated"
missile attack on US and Taiwan warships, a Chinese regional daily received
here Tuesday reported.
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- "If the US seeks to intervene militarily into the
internal affairs of China and Taiwan, they will find that the entirety
of their global movements are seen by Chinese spy satellites," the
Sichuan Youth Daily, citing a Chinese military expert, reported.
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- China has the capability to rapidly determine the number
and location of American aircraft carriers should Washington decide to
send its ships to the region as it did during a Sino-Taiwanese crisis in
1996, expert Zhou Guanwu said.
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- "China has a lot of anti-ship and anti-submarine
missiles that can be guided by satellites and adjusted for a saturated
attack in local waters," the paper said.
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- "Enemy troops, either American or Taiwanese, will
have difficulty withstanding this," it said.
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- Zhou further said China, like the US, also had the capability
to destroy the optics of satellites with laser technology, while admitting
that the optical equipment of Chinese satellites were also at the mercy
of US laser technology.
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- At the end of 1997, China had a total of 40 domestic-made
satellites in orbit of which 17 were spy satellites, eight were meteorological
satellites, three were telecommunication satellites and 12 were scientific
satellites, the paper said.
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- Relations between Beijing and Taipei intensified at the
beginning of July following statements by Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui
that relations between the two should be conducted on a "special state-to-state"
basis.
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- China has viewed the statements as a denunciation of
the "one China principle," which has been the main point of agreement
between the two sides since the Nationalist government fled the mainland
50 years ago.
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- Friday's National Day military parade marking 50 years
of mainland communist rule showcased a wealth of Chinese missile technology
and was seen as an explicit warning to Taiwan to refrain from activities
advocating independence.
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- Beijing has refused to renounce the use of force in reunifying
Taiwan should the rebel island declare independence or foreign forces interfere
in the Taiwan issue.
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- Last Thursday, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji warned Western
businessmen that the US was risking armed conflict in the region by supporting
Taiwan.
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