n slated for March 2008, according to an annual report released Friday by the U.S. Department of Defense. In the report on China's military power, the Pentagon notes that the overall situation remained stable in the Taiwan Strait in 2006 and that Beijing "reacted responsibly" to President Chen Shui-bian's decision to suspend the National Unification Council and National Unification Guideline early that year.
"Beijing appears prepared to defer unification as long as it believes trends are advancing toward that goal and that the costs of conflict outweigh the benefits," the report says.
Beijing's focus in the near term is likely to prevent Taiwan from moving toward de jure independence while continuing to hold out terms for peaceful resolution, with a strategy of "persuasion and coercion" that integrates political, economic, cultural, legal, diplomatic and military instruments of power, the report continues.
It says China's ongoing deployment of short range ballistic missiles, enhanced amphibious warfare capabilities and modern long-range anti-air systems are reminders of Beijing's refusal to renounce the use of force, as the balance of forces continues to shift in China's favor.
By October 2006, China had deployed approximately 900 mobile CSS-6 and CSS-7 short-range ballistic missiles to garrisons opposite Taiwan, expanding at a rate of more than 100 missiles per year, the report says.
China is deterred from taking military action against Taiwan mainly because it does not yet possess the military capability to accomplish with confidence its political objectives on Taiwan, particularly when confronted with the prospect of U.S. intervention, according to the report.
Other considerations of Beijing also include the potential political and economic repercussions of military conflict with Taiwan, such as international sanctions and possible loss of the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games, the report goes on.
"Finally, China's leaders recognize that a conflict over Taiwan involving the United States would give rise to a long-term hostile relationship between the two nations -- a result that would not be in China's interests," it says.
Although the principal focus of China's military modernization in the near term appears to be preparing for potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait, official documents and the writings of Chinese military strategists suggest that Beijing is increasingly surveying the strategic landscape beyond Taiwan, the report says.
"Current trends in China's military capabilities are a major factor in changing East Asian military balances and could provide China with a force capable of prosecuting a range of military operations in Asia -- well beyond Taiwan," it concludes.
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