TANG FEI TALKS TO REPORTERS AFTER MILITARY EXERCISE IN PINGTUNG, 1998-10-02 (photo)

Taiwan's militaray chief of general staff, General Tang Fei, surprises journalists on October 2 by saying that the military would cancel a major wargame planned on October 12 to show goodwill to arch rival China ahead of a scheduled visit to the mainland by Taiwan's top envoy, Koo Chen-fu. Tang made the comment after supervising a rehearsal for the wargame, which the military had played down its significance, saying it was merely a "display of new generation forces." Tang said another rehearsal scheduled on October 7 would be called off too. Tang said the cancellation can help improve the atomosphere of Koo's planned meeting with his mainland counterpart Wang Daohan between October 14 and October 19. lc/Photo by C.C. LC/TAN/SB