Declaring that China is "scared to death" of Taiwanese democracy, Taiwan's president visited islands Thursday near Chinese war games, and children held annual air raid drills at some primary schools.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry said China held a third day of practice attacks southwest of Taiwan and appeared to be gearing up to start a new round of military exercises north of the current war games in the Taiwan Straits.President Lee Teng-hui, campaigning for another term in elections next week, visited troops in the Pescadores archipelago, about 45 miles from the patch of ocean where China is deploying ships and practicing bombing runs.
Dressed in a turtleneck sweater, the 73-year-old Lee smiled and looked relaxed as he addressed an audience of islanders.
"They see freedom and democracy and they are scared to death," he said. "They want to scare us and threaten us, but we should know where our strength lies."
China had warplanes fire air-to-air missiles Thursday as part of its campaign to dampen Taiwanese independence sentiment before the March 23 elections. The attacks occurred near Dongshan Island off China's southeastern coast, said a statement by Taiwan's Defense Ministry.
"In addition, the (Chinese) air force held preliminary exercises in the Fuzhou area" about 150 miles to the north, said the statement. "All those activities are being closely watched by our military."
China considers Taiwan a renegade province, to be recaptured by force if necessary. It accuses Lee, who is expected to win another term, of discarding their shared goal of reunification. The Nationalist government now headed by Lee fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war on the mainland.
Taiwan's ruling party warned on Wednesday that China may have massed troops in that area in preparation for even bigger military exercises before the election.
The war games, which started last week, have pushed tensions between the two sides to their worst point since the late 1950s, when Taiwan traded artillery barrages with China from islands near the mainland coast.
The tests are set to end Friday.
In Washington Thursday, the House International Relations Committee approved and sent to the floor a non-binding resolution urging the United States to defend Taiwan if it is attacked by China.