They hold the view that war brings scientists more obligations and challenges, and more importantly it is necessary for people to understand the importance of science and technology in modern war.

"Personally I oppose war and hope the Iraq issue can be settled through peaceful means," Liu Maosheng, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), told Xinhua. But he said the current tension also made him see more clearly the importance of scientists' work to a country.

Modern warfare is a combat of advanced science and technology and a country's military strength is directly determined by the development of its science and technology, Liu said.

As an example, the result of the last Gulf War shows that the one that masters advanced science and technology enjoys advantages and will have better chances to win the war in the end.

Fan Jianping, a researcher with the Institute of Computing Technology under the CAS, said information technology will play a key role in modern warfare. Since the last Gulf War, close fighting gradually disappeared in war and information technology has been used broadly to strengthen national defense, he added.

He Zuoxiu, a noted Chinese physicist, expressed concern more about the consequences to world petroleum if Iraq were under military attack. He thought China should improve scientific study in seeking oil substitutes like high-energy batteries and explore more oil resources since the war seemed to be unavoidable.

While elaborating on some basic physical theories applied in modern war, the physicist said scientists should also be aware of the new high-tech military products arising from war.

(Xinhua News Agency February 17, 2003)