US naval muscle 'sends out warning' GLENN SCHLOSS Two US aircraft carriers have conducted exercises in the South China Sea in a move viewed as sending a warning to Beijing as tensions escalate over Taiwan. In a clear show of muscle, the USS Kitty Hawk and USS Constellation and their battle groups were deployed on Saturday and Sunday over a wide area of the sea, much of it claimed by China. It was designed to remind the PLA and Chinese leaders of the deployment of two aircraft carrier battle groups in the Taiwan Strait during the 1996 crisis, analysts said. A United States official said the exercises were deliberately conducted in the South China Sea amid the Taiwan tensions and increasing concern over the Spratly Islands. "This deployment was a nice way to let our friends and potential adversaries know that the US Navy remains committed to maintaining peace and stability throughout the region," the official said. Military expert Paul Beaver, spokesman for Jane's Defence Group, said: "What we are seeing is a rerun of 1996. The US is reminding the Chinese that it has a capability and can still do it three years later even though it has been in Kosovo." Taiwanese defence analyst Andrew Yang Nien-dzu said the exercises were designed to demonstrate "the US is watching over the situation with great concern". "This shows that in case the PRC tries to use the military exercises again, the US 7th fleet will repeat its actions of 1996," said Mr Yang, secretary-general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies. The US dispatched the two aircraft carrier battle groups, which usually comprise nuclear submarines, to monitor the PLA's firing of missiles across the strait during the island's presidential elections. from http://www.scmp.com/News/Front/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-19990811011022242.asp

The Chinese leadership has decided to use an appropriate degree of force against Taiwan, possibly including the occupation of an outlying island, should Taipei authorities refuse to abandon President Lee Teng-hui's ''two states theory''. Top units including the party's Central Military Commission and the Leading Group on Taiwan have been empowered to decide on the timing as well as severity of the military action to be taken.

*sigh*

*very big sigh*

Big party today, celebrating 50 years of Communism... it'll take force... lotsa force... to remove Chinese government's stranglehold on its people... I just wish the Chinese people would use their own as opposed to our involvement which is certainly to be messy. A successful revolution, while messy AND difficult, would at least give the Chinese people some sense of empowerment and accomplishment... Meanwhile, I don't think the US needs anymore of either of those...