The coming year carries high risks for the situation across the Taiwan Straits, as it is an election year for China's Taiwan Province, but the trends of peace and development in cross-straits relations are expected to persist.

This was the conclusion of a group of Mainland experts and scholars who attended Tuesday's workshop in Beijing, the "2007 Workshop on Retrospect and Prospect of Taiwan's Political Situation and Cross-Straits Relations."

In 2007, although the cross-straits situation has been complicated, the trends of peace and development in cross-straits relations were protected and strengthened, owing to the appropriate method of handling relevant matters by the Mainland, the experts held.

Wang Zaixi, vice chairman of the Mainland's Association for Relations across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), delivered a key-note speech.

The Mainland has achieved a lot in maintaining peace and stability across the straits and confused the "time-table" of the so-called "constitutional reform" by Chen Shui-bian, who has failed to work out a "new constitution".

Subsequently, Chen turned to promoting the so-called "referendum on joining the United Nations", which has also met with wide-ranging opposition in Taiwan and international community, Wang said.

Until May 2008, Taiwan's political situation would become more complicated, Wang said. "Anything may happen," he said. "The cross-straits situation is still in a period of great danger."

Wang called it "the most important and urgent task for the Chinese people living on both sides of the Taiwan Straits" to oppose secessionist activities and keep them within limits, especially those of "Taiwan's nomological independence", and oppose Taiwan authorities' "referendum on joining the United Nations".

The participants agreed that in 2007, the international community's efforts to consolidate the One-China Policy have been fortified with the participation of the United States and the European Union, which further suppressed the space of "Taiwan's independence" on the international arena.

(Xinhua News Agency December 26, 2007)