Under the one-China principle, any issues could be discussed only if Taiwan accepts that it is an inalienable part of China, said Wang Zaixi, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office under the State Council, when he talked on Wednesday with seven journalists from a Southeast Asian Chinese-language media delegation visiting Beijing.

Wang dismissed a recent report in the Taiwanese media that said the "three direct links" could be achieved even if the island's leaders didn't officially accept the one-China principle. The press took a statement from a speech he made in Singapore out of context, he insisted.

The "three direct links" refer to the postal, business and transportation links between the two sides.

What he did say, Wang explained, was that the "three direct links" should be dealt with as the internal affairs of one country. That's not the same as Beijing loosening its stance on Taiwan's identity as a part of China, he said.

Talks could occur party-to-party, but not state-to-state, Wang asserted.

"The late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping pushed the idea of negotiations between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Kuomintang party," he said. "That was correct while the Kuomintang held power in Taiwan."

He said the two parties agreed in the past on the one-China concept. The CPC insisted that, as long as that is accepted, any other question can be negotiated. Then-KMT leader Chiang Ching-kuo agreed that there is but one China.

Now that the KMT is no longer the ruling party in Taiwan, such talks may not be proper now, but this doesn't mean talks should be conducted between two "governments" across the Straits, Wang said. To do so would contradict the one-China policy.

The two sides must find another format for talks, he said.

Wang blamed Taiwan's lack of sincerity for the current impasse in the reunification process.

(chinadaily.com09/14/2001)