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Although they are being conducted some distance from Taiwan, the exercises will take place just days before sensitive presidential elections on the island, over which China claims sovereignty.

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[ 16 March 2004: Message edited by: Cueball ]

cnn, mar 5 2004

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A visit by the U.S. Pacific fleet flagship to Shanghai last month was reciprocated with rare tours of one of China's most sophisticated missile frigates.

China has tried to jump-start relations with the U.S. military that were largely frozen after the April 2001 collision between an American spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet. Recent visits included a trip to Beijing by the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Despite the occasional tough talk on Taiwan, the military has been restrained over the issue -- a far cry from eight years ago, when the PLA staged war games and fired missiles into the Taiwan Strait in an attempt to intimidate voters. Nor are tensions with Taiwan likely to affect long-term planning goals, observers say.

"They might accelerate some programs due to Taiwan, but the PLA is really keeping to a long-term schedule for rise to power," said Robert Karniol, Asia-Pacific editor for Jane's Defense Weekly.

Meanwhile, the military continues efforts to shed fat and add muscle with plans to cut hundreds of thousands of troops over coming years. China is also hoping to convince the European Union to lift a 15-year-old ban on weapons sales -- over the objection of the United States.

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If the EU truly stood for the progressive values that it espoused, any money and resources going into Eastern Asia will be (secretly) funnelled into the Democratic Progressive Party and the Taiwan Solidarity Union.

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Lord! you know all the ins and outs of these organizations enough to pick them as future rulers of China? I mean I don't even know if I'll vote, let alone vote for the NDP. How is it that you seem able to just pick a group and say those guys would be good... for China?