Beijing's intentions were illustrated in its enactment of a law allowing military action should Taiwan seek formal independence from China and its stockpiling of weapons targeting the island, Chen said.

"China's enactment of an 'anti-secession law' in mid-March ... is part of Beijing's tactics to bring Taiwan to its knees," Chen said in a statement marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.

"China has continued its arms build-up and increased the deployment of ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan," he said.

The Taiwan government needed to have sufficient capabilities to defend its 23 million people against the threat.

"Only by enhancing our self-defense capabilities can we have dignity and bargaining chips in any negotiations with China," Chen said.

Parliament in March rejected a bill for a 15.2-billion-dollar arms package that had been trimmed down from an initial 19.3-billion-dollar proposal that was also rejected.

The bill, which has been approved by cabinet but needs parliamentary approval, is expected to be reintroduced in September.

The arms package provides for the purchase of six PAC-3 Patriot anti-missile systems, eight conventional submarines and a fleet of submarine-hunting P-3C aircraft from the United States over a 15-year period beginning 2005.

Taiwan's defense ministry says China has deployed at least 700 ballistic missiles along its southeastern coast just opposite the island, and the number could rise to 800 before the end of 2006.

Taiwan is also alarmed by Beijing's passing of the anti-secession law, which drew hundreds of thousands of people to the streets of the capital Taipei to protest.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned this year that China was spending considerably more on its military than officially acknowledged and asked why it had so many missiles aimed at Taiwan.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. The island has effectively ruled itself since splitting from the mainland after a civil war in 1949.

Tensions have risen since the pro-independence Chen won the presidency in 2000. He was re-elected last year.

Meanwhile, the third Taiwan opposition party delegation in little more than two months arrived in China Wednesday, as the island's president said better defenses were needed against a possible mainland attack.

Thirty members of the New Party, headed by chairman Yok Mu-ming, touched down at Baiyun Airport in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou at the start of an eight-day trip, Xinhua news agency said.

"Memories of the past occur to us at this historic moment," Yok was quoted as saying. "These memories remind us that we must be united."

The trip follows landmark visits to the mainland by the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and ally the People First Party (PFP) this spring.

China's official media gave blanket coverage to KMT chairman Lien Chan's "peace journey" in April.

It was the first by a leader of the KMT, or Nationalist Party, since the nationalists fled to Taiwan after defeat by Mao Zedong's communist forces in

"The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are ethnic Chinese and we hope to resolve the ideological differences and help ease tensions between the two sides," New Party secretary-general Lee Seng-fong said ahead of the visit.

The New Party's Yok is expected to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao and give a speech at the People's University of China in Beijing, according to Lee.

The group will also visit the east Chinese city of Nanjing and the northeastern city of Dalian where they are scheduled to meet with Taiwanese businessmen.

Lee said the visit will mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Asia, and will also include discussions on the issue of the disputed Diaoyu islands.

Taiwan, China and Japan all claim sovereignty over the islands known as Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese in the East China Sea.

Separately, a delegation jointly formed by the KMT and PFP will leave for China Thursday to push for fruit exports to the mainland.

President Hu, in meeting with KMT chairman Lien in Beijing this spring, promised to widen fruit imports from the island to help its farmers.

Ties between Beijing and Taipei have been strained since the independence-leaning Chen Shui-bian from the Democratic Progressive Party broke the KMT's 51-year grip on power by winning the 2000 presidential election. He was re-elected in 2004.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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