Merkel says Islamist terrorism is biggest test for Germany

BERLIN, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Islamist terrorism is the biggest test facing Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday in a New Year's address to the nation, and she vowed to introduce laws that improve security after a deadly attack before Christmas in Berlin.

Describing 2016 as a year that gave many the impression that the world had “turned upside down,” Merkel urged Germans to forsake populism and said Germany had an interest in taking a leading role in addressing the many challenges facing the European Union.

“Many attach to 2016 the feeling that the world had turned upside down or that what for long had been held as an achievement is now being questioned. The European Union for exam-

BEIJING, Dec 31 (Reuters) - China's military has become alarmed by what it sees as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's support of Taiwan and is considering strong measures to prevent the island from moving toward independence, sources with ties to senior military officers said.

Three sources said one possibility being considered was conducting war games near the self-ruled island that China considers as a breakaway province. Another was a series of economic measures to cripple Taiwan.

It was not clear whether any decisions had been taken, but the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Taiwan issue had become a hot topic within the upper echelons of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) in recent weeks.

Trump, due to take office on Jan 20, angered Beijing this month by speaking to Taiwan's president by telephone, breaking decades of precedent and casting doubt on his incoming administration's commitment to Beijing's “one China” policy. Beijing fears this could embolden supporters of independence in Taiwan.

“If Trump challenges 'one China' after becoming president, this would cross our red line,” said another source, who has ties to China's leadership.

China's defence ministry declined to comment. An official at the ministry's news department said China's position was clearly laid out in the 2005 AntiSecession Law, which authorises the use of force against Taiwan in the event China judges it to have seceded.

Asked about any possible aggressive moves from China, Taiwan defence min- ple,” Merkel said.

“Or equally parliamentary democracy, which allegedly is not caring for the interests of the citizens but is only serving the interests of a few. What a distortion,” she said in a veiled reference to claims by the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) that is stealing votes from her conservatives.

Liberals across the Atlantic have hailed Merkel as an anchor of stability and reason in a year that saw the Donald Trump elected as U.S. president, Britain vote to leave the EU and U.S-Russia relations deteriorate to Cold War levels.

She compared Brexit to a “deep incision” and said that even though the EU was “slow and arduous”, its member states should focus on common istry spokesman Chen Chung-shi said: “We are fully prepared, and plan for the worst while preparing for the best.” China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its sacred and inviolable territory and is deeply suspicious of President Tsai Ingwen, whose ruling Democratic Progressive Party espouses the island's independence. Tsai, who took power this year, says she wants to maintain peace with China, but China is unconvinced. interests that transcend national benefits.

“And, yes, Europe should focus on what can really be better than the national state,” Merkel said. “But we Germans should never be led to believe that each could have a better future by going it alone.” It was her second allusion to the populist AfD, which wants Germany to leave the EU and shut its borders to asylum seekers, more than one million of whom arrived in the country this year and last.

The record number of migrants has hurt Merkel's popularity and fueled support for the AfD, which says Islam is incompatible with the German constitution. But her conservatives are still expected to win the general election in nine months.

Tsai said on Saturday that Taiwan will be “calm” when facing issues to do with China, but uncertainties next year will test the self-ruled island and its national security team.

Beijing has also been angered by a trip planned by Tsai in January to Latin America in which she will transit through Houston and San Francisco. China has urged the United States to block the stopovers.

Merkel, who is seeking a fourth term, has made security the main election platform for her Christian Democrats (CDU).

In her speech, she said the government would introduce measures to improve security after a failed Tunisian asylum seeker drove a truck into a Christmas market in the capital on Dec. 19, killing 12 people in the name of Islamic State.

He was shot dead by Italian police in Milan on Dec. 23 and investigators are trying to determine whether he had accomplices.

A YouGov poll conducted after the attack found that 73 percent of Germans were in favour of more resources for the police and 60 percent backed more video surveillance in public spaces.