China is willing to exert the utmost sincerity and the utmost efforts to realize peaceful reunification, but does not allow anybody to separate Taiwan from the motherland in any form, said Jiang Zemin, chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Jiang Zemin made these remarks during a meeting with US Vice President Dick Cheney.

Jiang said he is glad to see Cheney and his colleagues and he met with Cheney a couple of times.

"The Taiwan issue concerns the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China, and is related to Sino-US relations and peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region as well," he said.

Jiang Zemin told Cheney that he hopes that the US could adhere to its commitment on the Taiwan issue, and not to send wrong signals to the "Taiwan Independence" forces.

"Sino-US ties will have more room for development if the Taiwanissue is well handled," he said.

Jiang noted that he had met with US President George W. Bush several times, and reached consensus on developing bilateral constructive and cooperative relationship.

He said the overall development of Sino-US ties is good. The two countries are continuously making progress in coordination andcooperation in many sectors and exchanges between the two armies are increasing despite of some differences existing between the two countries, he added.

Cheney, who arrived in Beijing Tuesday afternoon on a three-day working visit to China, conveyed US President George W. Bush's greetings to Jiang.

Cheney said the current US-China relations are very good despite some existing issues. However, both sides can continue making concerted efforts and strengthening their cooperation.

Cheney gave a positive appraisal for US-China relations, saying that the two countries have cooperated well over the past years in all fields, and the US government will continue to adhere to the one-China policy, not support "Taiwan Independence", and oppose any unilateral action to change the status quo of the Taiwan Straits.

He said that US-China ties are very important and the US side will strive to push forward the relations continuously.

The two sides also exchanged views on issues of common concern.