Central government officials on October 20 urged Taiwan authorities to stop "pan-politicizing" the mainland's aid to the victims of the devastating earthquake that hit that island province on September 21.

Talking to a group of journalists from the mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, officials from the Foreign Ministry, the State Council Office on Taiwan Affairs, and the China Seismological Bureau rebuked the rumors and censures against the mainland as groundless and detrimental to the development of cross-Straits ties.

Li Qianghua, spokesman with the seismological bureau, said mainland seismological departments and experts have paid special attention to the quake and sent immediate messages to their counterparts in Taiwan on September 21 expressing their willingness to offer help at any time, but the proposal has so far received no response.

On October 15, the China Seismology Society invited experts from Taiwan to hold talks in the mainland on the issue of post- quake rebuilding, but this too was turned down in a letter from the other side of the Straits dated October 19, Li said.

Li noted that the mainland has acquired abundant experience over decades from deadly earthquakes, including the 1976 Tangshan quake, and is willing to cooperate and share these experience with their Taiwan counterparts, in the hope that the compatriots in the mainland "should not have shed their blood for nothing."

Mainland experts feel regretful and sorrowful because they have not been able to get to Taiwan, Li said, noting that the mainland is still ready to send expert teams to contribute to Taiwan's rebuilding efforts. The mainland is also willing to readjust its rescue plans in line with the requirements of Taiwan's quake-hit areas, he added.

Anti-quake efforts are a matter of humanitarianism and science and technology, and experts from neither side of the straits want to "pan-politicize" the issue, Li stressed.

Zhu Zushou, head of the Foreign Ministry's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Department, said the Taiwan authorities' condemnation of the so-called mainland's blockage of international aid to the quake victims is groundless.

Since the earthquake, the mainland has continuously shown its gratitude to the international community for their rescue activities, spared no efforts to provide assistance to these activities, and even planned to initiate international aid via the United Nations, according to the official.

He noted that as required by the UN Charter only a sovereign entity has the right to ask for the demand for initiation of international aid.

The mainland Association of Relations Across the Taiwan Straits has written to the Foundation for Cross-Straits Relations seeking comments from its Taiwan counterpart on the planned initiation of international aid, Zhu disclosed. The foundation has replied, saying it is not necessary to do so, he said.

In fact, international non-government rescue activities have been carried out normally and smoothly, and up to now over 20 foreign countries have sent more than 30 rescue teams with over 700 people to Taiwan's quake-hit areas.

Referring to the so-called mainland hampering of a Russian rescue team's effort to fly to Taiwan via the mainland, Zhu said the Foreign Ministry gave immediate consent to Russia's request to fly its rescue team over the territory of the mainland, and this has never been denied.

The mainland has acted in accordance with international convention, while the Taiwan side has had ulterior motives in making repeated condemnations, the official said, noting that in fact some foreign rescue teams had to leave Taiwan ahead of schedule because they had nothing to do there.

Initiating international aid is useful to the people of Taiwan, but the Taiwan authorities have "politicized" anti-quake efforts in an attempt to conduct a "quake diplomacy" in order to develop contacts with international organizations with the status of " sovereignty," according to the official.

Zhang Huaijun, head of the exchange bureau under the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said President Jiang Zemin and other state leaders have sent messages of sympathy to the quake victims, while mainlanders from all walks of life began collecting donations immediately after the quake.

To date, the mainland has raised five million yuan worth goods and 30 million yuan in cash for the Taiwan victims. The China Red Cross Association will remit another 500,000 US dollars as the third batch of rescue funds from the mainland.

While mainland aid has received thanks from many Taiwan groups and individuals, some Taiwan people have distorted the facts, the official said.

The Taiwan authorities have played down the mainland aid, and Lee Teng-hui has never mentioned the mainland concern and donations, but has taken the opportunity to reiterate his "two- states" fallacy, he said.

The mainland has been restrained in denouncing the groundless rumors in this case, but the repeated distorted remarks made by the Taiwan side have led to recent speeches by officials from the Taiwan Affairs Offices under the State Council and the Communist Party of China Central Committee to clarify the matter, Zhang said.

The quake could have been an opportunity for the improvement of cross-Straits relations, but a few people in Taiwan have been damaging this possibility, he said, adding that he regrets this.

He urged those Taiwanese with ulterior motives to spend their energies in the anti-quake efforts, instead of trying to transfer the dissatisfaction of the Taiwan people over the ineffective anti- quake activities undertaken by the authorities.

The Taiwan authorities should make greater efforts to rebuild the quake-hit areas and give their consent to mainland's request to send its rescue personnel and relief goods to the province as early as possible, he concluded.