Code snippet below does the subject task:
<jsp:plugin type="applet"
code="TestApplet.class"
width="500"
height="300">
<jsp:params>
<jsp:param name="message" value="Hello, world"/>
<jsp:param name="action" value="<%=AppletAction%>"/>
</jsp:params>
<jsp:fallback>
<p> unable to start plugin </p>
</jsp:fallback>
</jsp:plugin>