PLA on alert, watching Taiwan election crisis
22 March 2004
The South China Morning Post reported that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is on combat alert, prepared to launch military operations on Taiwan if the island's election crisis worsens, citing mainland sources. The report said that Hu Jintao would be able to cite the recently revised national constitution to declare a state of emergency as a step toward using force on Taiwan. Mainland analysts said there were no signs of imminent military action, according to the report.