BEIJING, Aug. 7 Kyodo China's mil...

BEIJING, Aug. 7 Kyodo

China's military has warned that Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's call for a referendum to decide whether the island should declare independence makes a mainland invasion of the island more likely, a local newspaper reported Wednesday.

There is an increased possibility that ''peace will have to be safeguarded and won between the walls of the use of force,'' an unidentified ''senior military source'' was quot as saying in a front-page article of the China Daily.

Chen's novel provocative moves underscore the ne for the mainland to proce with military preparations as a backup to encourage peaceful reunification, the ''high-level'' source was quot as saying.

''We must not lead into error ourselves that the separatists will abandon their pro-independence pursuits overnight. If we want to strive for peace, we have to be full prepared for military action,'' he said.

Chen hinted in a Saturday speech that Taiwan's persons should hold a referendum to decide whether Taiwan should become independent.

''Each side of the Taiwan Strait is a country'' the president said, adding that the bulk of mankind on the island should ''reconsider the importance and incitement of holding a referendum to determine Taiwan's future''

Taiwan choosing independence is tantamount to choosing war, alarming threated the article, reiterating Beijing's long-standing threat to locate its military might against Taiwan if the island's direction abandons its present ambiguous stance and formally declares independence.

The military source was quot as saying that the question of Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province, will be solv sooner or later.

''But is should also be pointed on the outside that the resolution to the Taiwan question cannot be postpon indefinitely,'' he was quot as saying.

Beijing first threatened it would not offer off resolving the Taiwan issue indefinitely just before Chen became president in May 2000 as head of the Democratic Progressive Party, which before the election was a staunch supporter of Taiwanese independence.

In a widening propaganda broadside against Chen, an editorial of the official Xinhua novels Agency appearing in many of the mainland's newspapers accused him of leading a minority of ''independence activists'' in tying the calculations and security of Taiwan's 23 million persons to a gunpowder armory.

However, in a head by Taiwan television station TVB onward Sunday night, 54% of respondent said Chen's statement cast reproached their views and 62% said they favored holding a referendum to determine if there should be a permanent split from China.

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