The People's Liberation Army Daily, the People's Daily and other newspapers carried as their top story a eulogy of China's missile and nuclear forces, organized in the Second Artillery Corps.

The article, titled "Forging a Shield of Peace for the Republic", described an exercise in which computers simulated a nuclear attack from an enemy power and the response of "Red Force", or China.

"'Red Force' employs modern procedures to rapidly decide on a war plan, deploying new types of mobile launchers to remote mountains and forests," the article said.

In techno-thriller prose, it described how the units employed new anti-jamming and anti-reconnaissance hardware and eventually unleashed their lethal nuclear might.

"One by one, the missiles rise towards the sky, as the units successfully launch their counter-attack," it concluded triumphantly.

The Second Artillery Corps is at the core of China's efforts to upgrade its 1950s-vintage military.

The Corps, which is headquartered near Beijing, has a strength of about 100,000 troops and is believed to be equipped with more than 400 strategic and tactical missiles.

Wednesday's article, which put emphasis on President Jiang Zemin's call for military modernization, was published at a time of renewed tensions with the United States.

"The likelihood of this being coincidental is as remote as one can get," said Paul Harris, an expert on China-US relations at Hong Kong's Lingnan University.

A Washington defense review listing China as a potential target of US nuclear strikes was recently leaked to US media.

The report said one of the new contingencies in which US nuclear weapons might be used was a military confrontation between China and Taiwan.

China reacted angrily to the report, condemning it as one in a series of recent US moves endangering bilateral ties, and Vice Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing Saturday summoned US Ambassador Clark T. Randt to protest.

The nuclear planners' Taiwan scenario is particularly worrying for the Chinese, analysts said.

It threatens to completely reverse the equation if US forces were to come to the rescue of the island during a Chinese attack.

Against this backdrop, the newspaper feature on the Second Artillery Corps is aimed at a domestic audience to bolster its patriotism and self-assurance, they said.

It could also boost the leverage of the top brass in charge of China's strategic nuclear forces and make it easier for them to get more resources.

But this kind of article could also backfire abroad, and help convince powerful groups in the United States that China is the Soviet Union of the 21st century, Lingnan University's Harris warned.

"It could fuel the view of people thinking we are entering a new Cold War, or a Second Cold War," he said.

CIA director George Tenet said Tuesday China considers the United States the main obstacle to growing clout in Asia and is modernizing its military to put US forces at risk in the event of a conflict over Taiwan.

"China is developing an increasingly competitive economy and building a modern military force with the ultimate objective of asserting itself as a great power in east Asia," Tenet said.

China Issues US Stern Warning Over Taiwan
In separate developments, China has starkly warned the United States that a "freezing wind" is chilling relations because of Washington's policy towards Taiwan, putting at risk newly-improved bilateral ties.

Washington put good relations "in jeopardy" with a string of actions this month, most notably allowing Taiwan's defence minister to attend a conference in Florida, Chinese media said.

"A freezing wind is blowing in China-U.S. relations," warned an angry and strongly-worded commentary by the official Xinhua news agency late Tuesday.

China has been enraged by the US decision to allow Taiwan's Defense Minister Tang Yao-ming to participate in an arms summit this month and to meet key US officials while in the United States.

The US ambassador to Beijing has twice been called in for dressings down over the issue while a state-controlled newspaper reported Monday that China was preparing to cancel naval exchanges with the United States in retaliation.

However, the Xinhua commentary used perhaps the strongest language unleashed by China on the United States since relations began improving following Beijing's backing for the US-led war on terrorism.

Ties warmed still further during US President George W. Bush's visit to Beijing last month, the article noted.

"However, since the beginning of March, what the US government has done with regard to bilateral ties is putting them in jeopardy with its erroneous move," it thundered.

"The US government must correct this serious mistake and put up no new barriers to the development of China-US relations."

The commentary condemned a recently-leaked US review of its nuclear arms policy listing China as a potential target and Taiwan as the likely flashpoint.

"These perfidious acts by the US side... interfere in China's internal affairs and represent a provocation to the Chinese people."

Analysts have warned that while relations appear to have improved in recent months, Beijing and Washington remain at odds over a series of issues, notably Taiwan, and that the strain was bound to show sooner or later.

In tone, the commentary seemed a direct throwback to the bleak days around the start of Bush's presidency, and last year's crisis after the collision between a US surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter jet.

"Some people in the United States fancy themselves smart by making use of Taiwan to contain China," the article fumed. "But they are actually coming to a dead end and will end up finding themselves stupid without gaining the benefits they had desired."

Paul Harris, an expert on Sino-US ties at Hong Kong's Lingnan University, said it was clear the commentary represented China "letting off some steam".

"It seems there is more steam being produced," he said, adding, however, that it was not completely clear whether this spelt trouble for relations as a whole.

Tang's visit, coupled with the US nuclear review and comments by President Bush making it clear the US would be likely to defend Taiwan had cumulatively proved too much for China, Harris said.

"There is always tension over the Taiwan Straits, but I think it is just more than Beijing can bear at this point," he said.

"The steam has been building up so much China has burst a gasket. The question is now: will the pressure be reduced?"

There were signs the nuclear policy review was little more than what China's military had expected and planned for, he added, and that it was possible the effects of Beijing's anger would be contained.

"I don't detect this extending to broader aspects of the relationship," he said.

Peter Walker in Beijing contributed to the second part of this report

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