China not to tolerate splitting Taiwan from motherland: Premier

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 08, 2003

China not to tolerate splitting Taiwan from motherland: Premier

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Premier Wen meets Kofi Annan

Premier Wen Jiabao on Sunday warned the separatist forces within the Taiwan authorities not to attempt to split the island from its motherland, saying the Chinese government will never tolerate such a move.

"We understand the aspiration of people in Taiwan for democracy. However, the essence of the problem now is that the separatist forces within the Taiwan authorities attempt to use democracy only as a cover to split Taiwan away from China. This is what we will never tolerate," Wen told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York after meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

"So long as there is a glimmer of hope, the Chinese government will not give up efforts for peaceful reunification and for the peaceful settlement of the issue," he stressed. "We believe this will serve the interest of both sides of the Taiwan Straits. This will also be conducive to peace and stability in Asia Pacific and the world at large."

The Chinese government has always adhered to the principle of "peaceful reunification, one country, two systems," believing that this is the most important principle for the settlement of the Taiwan issue, Wen said.

The Chinese premier added that he and Annan discussed, among other things, the nuclear issue of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), UN reforms, the relations between China and the world body, the global fight against poverty and AIDS and the economic development in Africa.

"We see completely eye to eye on these issues," Wen said, while promising to strengthen the cooperation between China and the United Nations.

On his part, Annan, standing beside Wen, reiterated the adherence to the one-China policy by the United Nations.

"We have the one-China policy, and also our support for the approach that all the differences will be settled politically and peacefully, without any resort to any violence. So we maintain the one-China policy and the need to resolve all issues peacefully," he said.

Annan expressed his thanks for China's economic and material support for the economic development of African countries.

Wen arrived here Sunday afternoon on a four-day official visit to the United States. After his stay in New York, the

premier will travel on to Washington and Boston.

Wen is the highest ranking Chinese leader to visit the United States since Beijing wrapped up a sweeping power transition to a younger generation headed by President Hu Jintao in March.

Taiwan has emerged as a cloud over ties between the world's most populous nation and its most powerful, one that risks undermining Chinese support for US efforts like the war on terror and the Korean peninsula nuclear crisis, analysts said.

Chinese military officials have threatened war if Taiwan moved toward independence -- even at the risk of boycotts of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and economic recession.

Seeking to ease tensions, a US envoy carried a message to Taipei last week that Washington did not want to see an independence referendum take place, administration officials said.

Vice Foreign Minister Zhou Wenzhong has said Wen, who meets President Bush on Tuesday in Washington, would seek a more forceful statement that the United States clearly "opposed" Taiwan steps toward independence.

That would mark a nuanced but significant shift from the US line that it "does not support" independence moves, analysts said, a position Secretary of State Colin Powell reiterated on Friday.

"If the US makes a clear statement opposing Taiwan independence, then it will help Sino-US relations," said Jia Qingguo, professor at Peking University of International Studies.

"But if the US does not even support China on the core issues ... China will have a hard time fully cooperating with the United States in other areas."

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Premier Wen warns Taiwan not to misuse democracy

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