Taiwan tested its readiness to repel a Chinese invasion with a computerized war game on Monday July 19, less than three weeks after signing a historic trade agreement with the communist-run mainland. The five-day exercise simulates a Chinese attack across the Strait of Taiwan from Guangzhou and Nanjing, the military districts closest to the self-governing island.
News of the war game coincided with a study speculating that China would deploy hundreds of new missiles aimed at Taiwan by the end of the year. It was published Monday in the Taiwanese Defense Ministry's naval studies journal
Monday also brought a report from the Chinese-language Liberty Times that Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou had ordered the National Defense Ministry to draw up a list of items it wished to buy from the United States, including MK-54 torpedoes and dozens of M1A2 tanks.
The Obama administration announced in January that it would sell Taipei $6.4 billion in arms - a package that includes Black Hawk helicopters, Patriot air-defense missiles and supplies for Taiwan's aging fleet of F-16 fighter jets. The arms deal prompted outrage from Chinese officials and halted a thawing in U.S.-Chinese relations, which has been one of the administration's top foreign-policy priorities.
President Obama in November paid a four-day visit to China, where he signed a joint statement under which China and the U.S. agreed to respect each other's "core interests." Chinese officials have cited the phrase as an affirmation of its "One China" policy toward Taiwan.(Source: Benjamin Birnbaum Washington Times, Jul 18, 2010).