Chen Shui-bian's attempt to promote separatism will bring disaster to Taiwan people, whose desire for peace, stability and development has been ignored, said Li Weiyi, the spokesman of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, at a press conference.

Asked to comment on Chen's stopovers in the United States, Li said Chen Shui-bian aimed to split China and sabotage the improvement of Sino-US relations by his activities and to prepare the Democratic Progressive Party and himself for the coming election.

The Chinese people and overseas Chinese will no doubt oppose what he has done, he said.

Chen Shui-bian has made commitments not to hold the referendum on "Taiwan independence" and incorporate "two states" remarks into the constitution.

However, according to a draft bill on referendums advocated by the Democratic Progressive Party headed by Chen, a referendum can be held on any topic, Li said.

The Democratic Progressive Party and some "Taiwan independence" organizations organized a march for a new "constitution" through referendum on Oct. 25.

Chen himself also made the statement on "one country on each side" in August last year and said there will be "one country on each side" in the election next year rather than the one-China policy, Li added.

"This fully shows his non-independence commitments in the past years are thoroughly false," he said.

Li said he had to point out that the reunification of the two sides across the Taiwan Straits is vital to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China and the fundamental interests of Chinese, including Taiwan compatriots.

“Any separatist activities aimed at 'Taiwan independence' are doomed to failure, for they will never be tolerated by all Chinese people," Li concluded.

Cross-straits Financial Supervision Should Be Handled by Trade Associations

The Taiwan Affairs Office of the Central Government proposed Wednesday that the issue of financial supervision across the Taiwan Straits should be handled by trade associations for the promotion of financial ties between the Chinese mainland and island of Taiwan.

"Both sides may reach a memorandum after negotiations under the principle of taking it as an internal affair of one country and serving mutual benefits through direct and reciprocal means," said the spokesman Li Weiyi.

Li said the exchange channels set up by these organizations have played a major role in advancing the cross-Straits financial development and the Central Government expects them to continue their work.

Cross-Straits financial cooperation is a natural conclusion of the increasingly strengthened economic cooperation, he said, noting that "the three exchanges," referring to the exchanges of mail service, trade, air and shipping services across the Taiwan Straits, and economic cooperation could have been discussed through existing mechanism, but the Taiwan leaders denied the agreements already reached and undermined the foundation for a direct dialogue between the two sides.

"I believed it is a feasible way to have trade associations to facilitate the financial supervision issue and thus to resume cross-Straits negotiations and dialogue," he said.

Li also said China would push forward the cross-Straits development in economy and trade, employing the method of "Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA)" already in place with Hong Kong and Macao.

"But the priority is to achieve a complete and direct 'three exchanges'," Li said.

In response to the recent call for more cross-straits exchange in meteorological information after Taiwan was attacked by a typhoon, Li said reliable disastrous weather forecast is crucial to both Taiwan and mainland people.

Non-official meteorological organizations across the Straits have conducted several rounds of negotiations and the mainland expects to see strengthened cooperation to benefit both peoples, Li said.

Taiwan's Trial of Human Traffickers Closely Watched

The Chinese mainland is highly concerned about the outcome of Taiwan's trial of four human smugglers charged with drowning six mainland illegal immigrants, said Li Weiyi.

Li said the mainland side expects the Taiwan authorities to severely punish the "snakeheads"-- human traffickers -- for their crimes and compensate the bereaved families.

The Taiwan authorities should also repatriate the 20 survivors back to the mainland as soon as possible, said the spokesman.

The spokesman made the remarks after the court debate of the trial in Taiwan had ended.

The four Taiwanese men being tried attempted to smuggle 26 women from the Chinese mainland into Taiwan island on two speedboats on Aug. 26. They threw the women overboard when chased by the Taiwan coast guard, leaving six drowned. The incident has aroused keen concern from both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2003)