The People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducted the largest military exercises in its history yesterday, which involved the use of the most advanced weapons, according to Wen Wei Po of August 11th.

The army, air force and navy wings of the PLA took part in the drills, which were carried out in a sea area near the coast of East China's Fujian Province, it said.

More than 300 PLA generals and observers from the country's major military commands supervised the games, which lasted for two hours.

The exercises set up a scenario of the PLA's taking over an outlying island, in which missiles, fighter jets, warships, armoured vehicles as well as electronic command systems were used.

Citing a military briefing, the paper reported earlier that the exercise was to simulate the seizure of Penghu.

"If the condition calls for the use of force to resolve the issue of Taiwan, the PLA will first of all take Penghu", believed to be of strategic importance, the daily cited military experts as saying.

They added that there were no plans "now or in the future" to take over Jinmen and Mazu, islands which lie close to the mainland.

The war games involved military units from Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong provinces.

The paper said the exercise was designed "to smash any plots at any time by separatists" in Taiwan.

The exercises, whose preparations started in April, will send warning against "splittists" in Taiwan under the leadership of pro-independence "president" Chen Shui-bian, the report said.

(China Daily Hongkong Edition 08/11/2001)