The Chinese government is deeply concerned about the safety of Taiwanese compatriots caught up in the US-led war on Iraq and is ready to offer aid, a spokesman of the Taiwan Affairs Office said in Beijing Wednesday.
In the second day of the war, the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China announced that aircraft of Taiwanese airlines could fly emergency air routes over the mainland to the Middle East and Europe, said spokesman Zhang Mingqing.
Zhang made the remarks at a regular press conference.
He said, " It is our consistent stance to enhance exchanges across the Taiwan Straits and to improve relations between the two sides, while firmly opposing any provocative deeds," he said.
The spokesman stressed that the Taiwan authorities should abandon separatism and accept the "one-China" principle. They should allow the "Three Direct Links" of navigation, mail and trade, expand mutual exchanges, and resume talks and negotiations on the basis of the one-China principle in order to smooth the development of relations, Zhang said.
(Xinhua News Agency March 26, 2003)
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