ABSTRACT
In 1995 the Chinese leadership reconfirmed its decision of 1993 to base military modernization on independent technological development. At the same time it also came to realize that its civilian industry could be used to accelerate military R&D, thus reversing direction of spill over between the civilian and military industries as conceived by its leaders since the early 1980s. This partial revival of the 1950s procurement pattern was reflected in acquisition of production licenses of weapons systems from Russia combined with the independent development of strategic military technology in an attempt to produce the means for asymmetric warfare. The Taiwan Strait crisis broke when the United States granted the President of Taiwan, Lee Teng-hui, a visa for a private visit an act perceived by China as active American support for Lee's separatist line. Chinese and the US efforts to calm the situation notwithstanding, the strategic tension between them continued to shift, with Taiwan prominent as focal point of the dispute.
