"Although we don't like the newly announced military exercise," a White House official said in Washington, "we take note of the fact that there is little to no interference with international shipping or air travel, that they take place far from Taiwan proper so that there is no direct threat, and that the Chinese have been careful in their rhetoric not to issue direct threats."

China refuses to renounce the use of force should Taiwan move toward independence, and on Friday a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Shen Guofang, sought to reiterate that point by describing as groundless earlier reports that China has signaled privately that "it has no intention to resort to arms in solving the Taiwan issue."

"China has never promised to abstain from resorting to arms," he said.

Mr. Shen's attempts to harden China's position in the last days of the presidential campaign on Taiwan reflects the extent to which both China's Communist Party leadership and President Lee are vying for the hearts and minds of the Taiwan electorate. Beijing has sought to reach out to Taiwan voters and businessmen, telling them not to panic and trying to reassure them that their $20 billion in investment on the mainland is secure, as a banner headline in the semi-official China Daily said today.

In Beijing, Prime Minister Li said, "We wholeheartedly hope that people in Taiwan can live in a peaceful and stable environment" and he again blamed the Taiwan leader for the "chaotic situation in Taiwan."

The Communist Party leadership in Beijing is said to believe that Mr. Lee is bent on leading Taiwan toward permanent separation from the mainland, a step that would undermine the "one China" commitment of his Nationalist Party, which is dedicated to eventual reunification with the mainland.

Just as Beijing has sought to isolate Mr. Lee by painting him as a "separatist" bent on "splitting the motherland," Mr. Lee has sought to cast Beijing in the role of an enemy of Taiwan's common man, who has been granted a democratic franchise for the first time in the island's history under the reforms begun by the late President, Chiang Ching-kuo, the son of Chiang Kai-shek, and continued by Mr. Lee.

Beijing's military campaign began in July with what a Pentagon official described at the time as an "escalating menu" of exercises intended to destabilize Mr. Lee's rule. Mr. Lee has now pledged to seek a new dialogue with the mainland after the election, but many political experts in Beijing and Taipei say tensions will remain high for some time as Taiwan undertakes a significant buildup of air and naval weaponry that could make it the most potent air power in Southeast Asia.