China Fires 4 Missiles in Sea Near Taiwan : Taipei: Testing riles nationalist government, which accuses Beijing of putting up obstacles to eventual reunification.

Taiwan authorities said today that China had test-fired four missiles on Friday and Saturday in the sea 85 miles north of Taiwan.

“We have spotted four missiles fired by China, two on Friday and two on Saturday. We will continue to keep on high alert for any further activities,” said a senior official from the Defense Ministry.

The official said two of the missiles had missed their targets and landed harmlessly in the sea. The other two hit their expected targets, he added.

The nationalist government sounded defiant notes Saturday over China’s missile tests and the foreign minister accused Beijing of putting up obstacles to eventual reunification. Taiwanese citizens said they trusted their government and did not fear the tests.

Foreign Minister Fredrick Chien accused Beijing of creating “two Chinas” by oppressing Taiwan and refusing to recognize the island as a legitimate political entity.

“China, by ridiculously regarding itself as the central government and Taiwan as the local government, is the real perpetrator of creating two Chinas,” he said in a statement.

A poll conducted by the mass-circulation United Daily News and published on Saturday showed that 71% of 1,013 people interviewed said they did not fear China’s missile tests and only 20 said they were scared.

The newspaper said that a major reason for people’s lack of fear was that they had confidence in their government’s ability to handle crises between China and Taiwan.

The tests are seen by Taiwan as saber-rattling by China to press Taiwan to ease off on efforts to gain more international recognition.

China has regarded Taiwan as a renegade province since the two sides split after a civil war in 1949 and vows to retake the island by force if it declares independence.

“Taiwan, by recognizing the reality of a split China and aggressively participating in international activities, is helping to boost an environment to push for eventual reunification,” Chien said.

China and Taiwan both claim to be parts of one China that will one day reunify. But radical differences exist over how reunification should be achieved.

The specter of the missile tests is already taking an economic toll on Taiwan’s fishing industry.

Fishermen in Taiwan’s northern coast have been forced to vacate the sea. The work stoppage is expected to cost the fishermen $8 million to $12 million.

On Saturday, the stock market index rose by 1.15% to continue Friday’s 0.2% gain after it had tumbled by 4% on Wednesday and 2.7% on Thursday.

Flights between Taiwan and Seoul, which would normally fly over the testing area, began taking detours to avoid potential danger, aviation officials said.

President Lee Teng-hui on Thursday said Taiwan could not accept threats to its sovereignty, but he did not directly address the question of the missile tests.