Does anyone have information about: 1.) the jets which allegedly flew earlier today over the province of Guangdong to the province of Fujan, just across the strait from Taiwan ? 2.) the mainland chinese fishing boats (reportedly thousands) converging on the Pratas Islands since yesterday 3.) the Taiwan ship carrying "gravel" which disappeared a few days ago (it was heading for the mainland) 4. the alleged discussion by the mainland Chinese to use a neutron bomb on Taiwan??

-- Annie (getting more scared@home.now), March 20, 2000

Answers

Annie,

1. The jet story was not true. it is being discussed in a thread now. It's a good idea to read some of threads before you post questons.

2. I've never seen any story about fishing boats in the Pratas Islands. A search of the major news sources doesn't reveal anything about this. Where did you hear this?

3. The Taiwanese vessel carrying gravel disappeared months ago. I haven't heard anything more about it.

4. China doesn't have a neutron bomb so discussing it wouldn't do much good. What source do you cite as evidence that China has a neutron bomb?

-- Jim Cooke (JJCooke@yahoo.com), March 20, 2000.

to Jim C--I probably seem misinformed but I'm very rattled about the situation

1.)the jet story was from Hong Kong's South China Morning Post today.

2.) the fishing boat story was from Central News Agency 3-20-00 it read in part," mainland Chinese forces were discovered moving toward the Pratas from all directions, forming what amounts to a blockade around the isolated coral atolls ...A few other mainland fishing boats were also found to have moved into waters near Peijab, on ROC controlled Matsu island." Later the report stated "meanwhile...movement has been detected in both mainland China's land and air forces since Sunday "(March 19) This article also disagreed with the report from Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (3/20/00) regarding the jets.

3.)not sure where we read about the ship carrying gravel, but the report said that the day the ship sailed, the crew made some comments suggesting they might not be back.

4.)today's Drudge report

Maybe none of this is reliable information but it does seem to suggest some unpleasant possibilities.

-- Annie (timeforaXanax@worried.com), March 20, 2000.

Annie:

Thank's for the clarifications. The Central News Agency is indirectly controlled by the Nationalist Party in Taiwan and so you should always look at their reports in the light of how the news might be slanted to assist the Nationalist Party. The fishing boat story sounds unlikely just because it would be very difficult to get thousands of fishing boats in one place at one time. Even if true, they are in a pretty isolated spot and don't sound like they present much of a threat to Taiwan.

Given the condition of many of the small merchant ships in Taiwan, I'm not suprised the crew would think they might not be back. Taiwan's coastwise merchant fleet has one of the world's worst safety records.

If you're a worrier, please stop reading Drudge. His reports are notorious for their inaccuracy and unverified "sources" like the neutron bomb story. Take a look at my post on the credible threat that China presents to the US for details on Chinese nuclear forces.

Now, if you want to worry about nuclear war, start reading about Pakistan and India....:^)

-- Jim Cooke (JJCooke@yahoo.com), March 20, 2000.

Annie, fwiw I read Drudge,too. Gives me a heads up sometimes and I go visit some other sights for additional info. Here's a bit of news on the Stratfor.com site. Can't link it but here's the address: http://www.stratfor.com/hotspots/chinataiwan/default.htm. There's a short news brief about a new Taiwanese law passed by the parliament on March 22 that will allow direct transportation links between the Chinese mainland and three Taiwanese islands: Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu. Perhaps this is the reason for all the ships? Just my own speculation there with that statement and brief paraphrase of the stratfor.com news item. FWIW.

-- Ma Kettle (mom@home.com), March 21, 2000.