Threats by China against Taiwan gained momentum over the weekend, with indirect warnings to the west that conflict could erupt at any time.
While observers try to figure out whether this is psychological warfare or a prelude to the real thing, a Hong Kong newspaper yesterday reported, under a banner headline, that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) garrison in Hong Kong has been put on alert because of the rising tensions.
This follows a report in the Washington Post on Saturday that Chinese embassy officials, visiting army officers and scholars have been warning their US counterparts that China is considering a new show of military force in response to the recent assertion by President Lee Tung-hui of Taiwan that China and Taiwan should adopt a "two states" rather than a "one-China" policy.
It said US officials had concluded that Beijing was genuinely weighing military options, including the seizure of one or more of the small Taiwan-controlled islands just off the Chinese mainland.
The islands of Kinmen (formerly Quemoy), Matsu and Wuchiu, which lie within sight of the Chinese city of Xiamen in Fujian province, were shelled by Chinese artillery for some months in 1958 and propaganda canisters were launched regularly at the islands up until the 1990s.
On Friday, a senior researcher at the PLA Military Science Academy, Mr Yan Zhao, reportedly said in a pro-Beijing Hong Kong newspaper that he believed that military conflict could erupt at any time and that China was prepared for it.
Hong Kong's Sunday Morning Post quoted sources which said that the 1,000 soldiers, sailors and aircrew guarding the SAR (special administrative region of Hong Kong) had been placed on the third level of alert, the lowest of three rankings.
This means that helicopter gunships and missile boats being placed on 24-hour readiness and the cancellation of holidays for soldiers and officers.
The Post's source also said there was evidence electronic warfare units and equipment had been moved from inland regions of China into position near Xiamen in a sign of growing preparedness for possible military action.
The approaches to US officials were a way of ascertaining Washington's possible reaction to any military action, some observers believe. President Jiang Zemin of China is due to meet the US President, Mr Clinton, in New Zealand in mid-September.
Tensions between China and Taiwan have risen dramatically since President Lee said on July 9th that relations between the two should be on a "special state-to-state basis". To China this meant only that Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province, was moving closer to declaring independence.
A government spokesman in Taipei yesterday accused Beijing of using the Hong Kong media to spread news of its combat readiness and military drills to wage psychological warfare against the island. "We have not detected anything unusual so far. I think, once again, the Chinese Communists have used Hong Kong media to spread rumours," he said.