TAIWAN SOLDIERS GO THROUGH THEIR PACES OUTSIDE TAIPEI, 1999-07-19 (photo)

Taiwan coast guards in flotation vests are put through their training paces July 19 on the outskirts of the capital Taipei. Taiwan's announcement that it now expected to undertake Taipei-Beijing ties on a "state-to-state" basis has triggered a furious backlash from rival China, which has attacked the move as a "splittist" effort to create an independent Taiwan. Despite a flurry of media reports from mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and even Taiwan itself that China was preparing a military response, Taiwan's military has remained at normal levels of alertness, saying it had not detected any mainland military movements that merited a heightened alert. JKP/TAN/JDP