Hu calls on Taiwan to rein in pro-independence forces
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-13 15:36

President Hu Jintao called on people from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan to join together to prevent the island declaring formal independence from the motherland and to work with each other in economic development.

"'Taiwan independence' is a dead-end alley," Hu said during talks with a Taiwanese opposition party New Party delegation, according to the Xinhua news agency.

"The One China principle must be maintained. China must not be separated. The Chinese nation must not be separated. We have to be clear on these major principles," he added.

Hu said that only by ending pro-independence activists' "secessionist activities" could "peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits and a stable environment for economic and social development be maintained."

In a reference to China's 1937-45 occupation by Japanese forces, he said that working on economic development was the best way for both the mainland and Taiwan to avoid such seperation in the future.

"History and reality tell us that backwardness incurs beatings by others. Only through development can rejuvenation be realised," Hu said.

His comments came in talks with Yok Mu-ming, chairman of Taiwan's opposition New Party, currently touring the mainland. Yok said his party would work with Chinese on the mainland and Taiwan to oppose "Taiwan independence" and work for peaceful reunification.

Yok is the third Taiwan party leader to visit the mainland since April, closely following the visits of the Kuomintang Party Chairman Lien Chan and People First Party Chairman James Soong.

Hu's comments echoed those of a senior official earlier Tuesday.

Wang Zaixi, vice minister of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said the war with Japan had taught Chinese people that "only a rich and powerful China can avoid being bullied by others."

"Escalating secessionist activities pose the biggest and most destructive threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits," Wang told an earlier forum with Yok's delegation.

"Only by opposing and curbing Taiwan's secession from China can we safeguard cross-Straits peace and stability," he said.

He urged people across the Taiwan Straits that separate Taiwan from the motherland "to launch an all-out fight against secessionist forces".

Wang also said China had to achieve reunification to become powerful.

"Only a reunited China can really become a powerful country in the world."

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