The military hopes to have 1,400 Yunpao (Cloud Leopard) vehicles, with production beginning in 2007, the magazine said in an article to be published Wednesday.

The new carriers will replace outdated armoured vehicles and can be modified to perform several different tasks.

Taiwan, worried about China's growing military strength, has been upgrading its military arsenal in recent years after Beijing has repeatedly threatened to invade the island should it declare formal independence.

Relations between China and Taiwan, which split in 1949 at the end of a civil war, have worsened since independence-leaning Chen Shui-bian was elected president in 2000. He was re-elected last year.

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