From NewsMax:
The Chinese are conducting major amphibious military operations on mainland-controlled islands in the Taiwan Strait. Simulating an all-out invasion of Taiwan, the publicized war games mass an estimated 18,000 Chinese troops in complex air, land and sea maneuvers that will last a week and shadow a U.S. exercise, "Summer Pulse 2004," itself an impressive military evolution of seven aircraft-carrier strike groups.
The U.S. exercise, which is global in scope, also involves 50 warships, 600 aircraft and 150,000 troops, and has been described as one of the biggest military exercises ever staged.
Although military officials claim Summer Pulse is aimed at increasing preparedness for any global crisis, not specifically the China-Taiwan issue, analysts see the concurrent war games as mutual saber-rattling -- suggesting that rising hostilities across the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait may have reached a critical juncture, according to a report in the LA Times.
"Beneath our notice, as the world watched North Korea, the conventional conflict between China and Taiwan could now be well on the way to breaking out into something more serious," said Andrew Tan, a security expert at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore.
Matt's Chat
Here is one that has been brewing for awhile. "Mutual saber-rattling" sounds about right but this is one that you'll want to keep your eye on.American Digest has more information on Summer Pulse.
