Concrete pilings designed to prevent an invasion no longer dot this tiny Taiwanese islet's shoreline. A formidable marine garrison also has vanished, replaced by laid-back coast guardsmen and marine biologists.

Don't be mistaken, though _ the government is not suddenly renouncing its long-standing claim to Dongsha, a picturesque islet in the South China Sea. China, from which Taiwan split in a civil war in 1949, claims it, too.

A well maintained monument set amid Dongsha's low cut tropical shrubbery spells out the claim in neat Chinese characters, and a small tree planted by former President Chen Shui-bian calls attention to it.

But an ambitious government plan to reduce the strength of Taiwan's armed forces from the 350,000 it numbered in the late 1990s to as few as 200,000 by 2012 is taking its toll on military staffing throughout the island of 23 million people, including on far-flung offshore territories like Dongsha.

Only this week a Taiwanese newspaper reported the army was placing dummies at guard posts on major military bases because there are not enough real guards to go around. The present Taiwanese military force level stands at about 270,000.

The government's downsizing program reflects an emphasis on high-tech weaponry and the prohibitive cost of maintaining large numbers of soldiers, sailors and airmen, military expert Alexander Huang of Taipei's Tamkang University said.

But he cautioned that the downsizing program should in no way be confused with a lack of military preparedness.

"They're two entirely separate stories," he said.

Downsizing is a "rational policy," said defense expert Andrew Yang of Taipei's Council of Advanced Political Studies

"It's reducing expenditure on personnel and freeing up funds to upgrade high-tech systems and increase the level of professionalism across the board," he said.

On Dongsha, the largest element in the three-islet Pratas group, some 200 coast guardsmen provide the manpower to back up the government's claim to control.

Though military in appearance, they are unarmed and spend little or no time contemplating a possible Chinese invasion.

China continues to view Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to attack if it makes its de facto independence permanent.

Huang said the 1999 decision to send in the coast guard to replace Dongsha's hardcore marine fighters was intended to signal Beijing that Taiwan was interested in an overall lowering of tensions.

The pro-independence policies championed by Chen during his presidency may have undermined that effort, but even if they did, Dongsha was not adversely affected, said Deputy Minister Yih Rong-tzung of the Government Information Office.

"Over the last 10 years there's been no change at all in the status of this place," he said.

With the May inauguration of anti-independence President Ma Ying-jeou, hopes are high that Dongsha's postcard-pretty scenery will remain untrammeled for many years to come.

Ma is committed to signing an historic peace treaty with Beijing by the end of his term in 2012, or 2016 if he is re-elected.

He has already opened the doors to direct weekend flights across the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait, and a substantial expansion in the number of Chinese tourists visiting the Taiwan.