[aviation authorities in Taiwan have received orders to advise aircraft about the test-firing of patriot missiles, which starts on June 20. Read photo caption below.]


TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan said Tuesday it will test-fire its U.S.-made Patriot missiles for the first time this week in a display of resolve with Chinese war games under way in a nearby Beijing-held island.
Its policymaking Mainland Affairs Council, meantime, also again said no to Beijing's cherished ``one China'' principle, under which Beijing sees itself as the sole, legitimate government of all China and views the island as a breakaway province.
The cabinet-level council, in a statement rejecting a call by a local tycoon to embrace the principle, said Taipei and Beijing remained sharply divided over the definition of ``one China'' and the government prefers to set aside the dispute.
Taiwan military officials and analysts said the missile test-firing had been in the works for a long time and it was a mere coincidence that Beijing was also flexing its military muscles.
The military refused to shed light on the test-firing, but aviation authorities said they had received orders to advise aircraft about ``gun firing'' from Wednesday.
An official at the Civil Aeronautics Administration, who declined to be identified, said the agency has declared specific ``gun firing'' air zones in southern Taiwan between 8.00 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. (0000-0230 GMT) from June 20 to 22 and on June 26.
``Preparations for the test-firing of Patriot missiles have been very smooth. Everything is according to the plan,'' defense ministry spokesman Huang Suey-sheng told a news conference.
``But to ensure national security, the exact date and time of the test-firing cannot be revealed,'' Huang said.
Huang said such test-firing was normal activity and repeated that China's ongoing war games on an island opposite Taiwan were routine and had no wider significance.
Taiwan and Chinese media have suspected the exercises on Dongshan Island off China's southeastern province of Fujian were a warning to Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian following his breakthrough visit to the United States and Latin America.
``While the test-firing of Patriot missiles marks a significant step for Taiwan's defenses, I think the timing is a coincidence,'' said Andrew Yang, a military expert and secretary-general of the Chinese Council for Advanced Policy Studies, a private think-tank.
``It's not a competition and not politically motivated.''
CHINESE OPPOSITION
Asked to comment on Taiwan's Patriot test-firing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue reiterated opposition to foreign countries selling advanced weapons to the island it views as a breakaway province.
Zhang called any arms sales to Taiwan a gross interference in China's internal affairs.
``We hope that Taiwan authorities will realize that reunification with the mainland at an early date is in accordance with the interests and wishes of the whole Chinese nation, including people of the Taiwan island. It is also a historical trend,'' Zhang said.
``Any attempt to oppose reunification by means of arms purchases and deployment will come to no end at all.''
China views Taiwan as a breakaway province and has vowed to attack if the island declares independence or drags its feet indefinitely on unification talks.
Taiwan leaders have warned of an ever-growing battery of missiles on the Chinese coast where up to 500 missiles have been deployed within easy range of the island's main political, economic and military facilities.
Over Beijing's objections, Washington agreed in 1993 to sell Taiwan the Patriot Advanced Capability, or PAC-2, anti-missile system.
Taiwan has deployed three batteries of Patriot missiles -- 200 in all -- in the northern portion of the island to protect the Taipei area, its political and economic center.
The island is armed with homegrown anti-aircraft Sky Bow and Sky Sword missiles and the Patriots finally give it the ability to shoot down at least some ballistic missiles.
Taiwan is also eager to buy a more advanced version of the Patriot, PAC-3, and the Aegis air defense system -- both requests were turned down by Washington this year.
But President Bush has agreed to sell Taiwan eight submarines and four Kidd-class destroyers in the biggest arms package for the island in a decade.
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PHOTO CAPTION

Taiwan said June 19, 2001 it was ready to test-fire its Patriot missiles, in a move seen as demonstrating its defenses in the face of arch-rival China's growing missile threat. The military was tight-lipped about details, but aviation authorities said it had received orders to advise aircraft about the test-firing, which starts on June 20. A Patriot test firing in White Sands New Mexico is seen in this undated file photo. (DOD via Reuters)
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