Taiwan drops war games in bid to defuse Chinese anger over independence speech

TAIWAN has scrapped planned war games as part of efforts to defuse tensions with China, but Beijing has told President Chen Shui-bian he may risk attack if he presses ahead with a referendum on independence.

Taiwan’s military announced it was cancelling anti-submarine drills off eastern Taiwan set for August 15 to “avoid speculation and misunderstanding” after Mr Chen enraged Beijing by backing a referendum on formal independence for the island.

“The situation in the Taiwan Strait is tense. We cancelled the exercises to avoid misunderstanding,” a defence ministry spokesman said.