Visiting Chinese leader Li Ruihuan reiterated China's position Tokyo over the weekend that China will not hesitate to pay any price for the solution of the Taiwan issue.

Li, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), made the statement on Taiwan in an interview with the Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK).

Asked why the Chinese government does not promise to renounce the use of force in solving the Taiwan issue, Li stressed: "No Chinese leader nor any generation of the Chinese leadership has the right to discard Taiwan from its motherland."

Li, who is on a nine-day goodwill visit to Japan, warned that no one should underestimate China's determination and capabilities in the settlement of the issue.

In commenting on the "two states theory" of Lee Teng-hui, leader of the Taiwanese authorities, Li noted that the nubbin of the theory is to thoroughly negate the principle of "one China policy" that has been recognized by the international community, with the aim of cutting the province out of the Chinese territory.

The CPPCC Chairman described Lee Teng-hui's statement as complete betrayal of the interests of the Chinese nation, tremendous harm to the social stability and development of the Taiwan province, severe damage to the political groundwork for developing cross-strait ties, and trouble to peace and stability in Asia and the world.

Therefore, it has incurred strong opposition from the Chinese people and found no support from the international community, Li added.

The principles of "peaceful reunification" and "one country, two systems" are China's basic approach to the solution of the Taiwan issue, which takes into full account of the current realities of the province and the practical interests of the Taiwan compatriots, Li told the NHK.

As the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are compatriots and brothers who are of an identical ancestry, what differences could not be put aside and what enmities could not be melted under the one China principle? Li asked.

"As long as the Taiwan authorities show sincerity in conformity to the people's will, we can sit together and have peaceful consultations, and a solution will eventually be found and the ultimate goal of peaceful reunification will be achieved," he assured.

The development of the situation across the Taiwan Strait hinges on whether the Taiwan authorities could wake up at the last moment, Li said.

He noted that since the Chinese people always consider sovereignty and territorial integrity more important than their own life, no Chinese leader nor any generation of the Chinese leadership will give away any part of the Chinese territory.

"If anybody persists in going his own way to segment Taiwan from the Map of China in disregard of the desire of the Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait for peaceful reunification, prosperity and development, we will have no other choice." Li warned.