Chinese militia staged a two-day weekend exercise off the southeastern coast, following up on drills by the People’s Liberation Army this month amid simmering tensions with arch-foe Taiwan, state media said on Monday. About 3,000 Chinese officers, men, militia and paramilitary police took part in the two-day exercises off Fujian province that ended on Sunday and which involved militia boats providing front-line support at sea, the online edition of the official Xinhua news agency said. China suspects Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian will push for formal statehood after winning a second four-year term in March and it is preparing for a possible showdown with the self-ruled, democratic island, which Beijing has claimed as its own since their split at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.Full Story