Taiwan Dismisses Reports of Chinese Military Action

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Seeking to calm a nervous public, Taiwan on Sunday dismissed reports that China is preparing military action over comments by the island’s president.

The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said no unusual activity by Chinese forces has been seen since President Lee Teng-hui said earlier this month that relations between the two should be conducted on a “state-to-state” basis.

But Chinese President Jiang Zemin told President Clinton that Beijing had not ruled out the use of force against Taiwan, the New China News Agency said today, and the Chinese military released photographs of assault craft carrying tanks and armored personnel carriers toward an unidentified beach.

Lee’s comment marked a significant change from Taiwan’s former, more ambiguous explanation that the sides should regard each other as two equal political entities. Lee later said he did not mean that Taiwan would seek independence, but the remark has enraged Beijing, which regards the island as a renegade province.

Jiang’s remarks to Clinton by telephone Sunday, splashed on the front page of major newspapers, were his first comments since the crisis began.

Clinton assured Jiang that Washington would not change its “one China” policy.