628 { China’s Quest
political evolution, the completion of its decade-long peaceful transition from
one-party dictatorship to competitive, multiparty democracy. It was arguably
the first time such a thing had happened in the several-millennia-long history
of Chinese civilization—a fact of which Taiwanese were aware and proud. The
ethnic Chinese on Taiwan seemed to have finally realized the century-long
dream of being rich and free. These facts made the 1996 presidential elec-
tion especially significant to the people of Taiwan—and to well-wishers of
Taiwan’s democracy around the world. Destabilizing Taiwan’s democracy
was probably not a CCP objective at this juncture, although that could well
have been the result of PLA intimidation had it not been countered by US in-
tervention. Beijing’s objective, rather, was to influence the voting of Taiwan’s
electorate, to convey to them the message that a vote for Lee Teng-hui, or for
his DPP rival Peng Ming-min, was a vote for confrontation and war. Prudence
required voting against Lee’s efforts to “split China.” This was Beijing’s in-
tended message. To Washington, the message was that China was prepared
for war over Taiwan.The 1996 ExercisesPLA exercises in 1996 began on February 4, when troops from across China
began arriving in an expedited fashion in Fujian province. Codenamed
“Express 60,” this deployment was itself a test of plans to deploy large forces
to forward positions opposite Taiwan within sixty hours.^25 Exercises con-
tinued on March 8 with the launching over a six-day period of four ballistic
missiles into two box-shaped target areas just beyond the ports of Keelung
in the north and Kaohsiung in the south of Taiwan. These missiles were fired
from deep inside Fujian province. As had been the case with the July and
August 1995 missile firings, target areas were preannounced, with warnings
for ships and aircraft to avoid the areas. The PLA demonstrated with these
firings its ability to use complex missile firings to effectively close Taiwan’s
main ports.
Just before the missile bombardment off Kaohsiung ended, PLA forces
began live fire exercises on Dongshan and Nan’ao Islands near the Fujian-
Guangdong border at the southern end of the Taiwan Strait, just across from
Kaohsiung. Once again, the exercises simulated assault from the sea on a hos-
tile-held island. Anti-aircraft missiles were fired from shore and from frigates
at sea. PLA air force B-6D heavy bombers conducted bombing runs. Anti-
ship, air-to-air, and anti-submarine missiles were fired by air and sea surface
forces seeking air supremacy and sea control in the landing zone. Su-27 fight-
ers recently acquired from Russia were involved in the exercises, as were a
new class of China-produced submarine and two KILO class submarines also
recently acquired from Russia.