A senior Chinese official in charge of Taiwan affairs appealed Thursday for joint efforts from both sides of the Taiwan Straits to prevent the independence of the island province.

Tang Shubei, executive vice president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), said that Taiwan is at a critical juncture and now is the time for Chinese compatriots on both sides of the Straits to work together to stop the island from becoming independent, and strive for peace across the Straits and the deepening of cross-Straits relations, Tang said.

Meeting the press Thursday, Tang said that the question now is whether Taiwan will aim for "independence" rather than reunification with the motherland.

"We understand that quite a number of Taiwan compatriots have some misgivings about the reunification, and we also think that the reunification will take time," he said.

However, just as President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji have pointed out, if the prospects of peaceful reunification are undermined and become impossible, the Chinese people are ready to shed blood and give their lives to defend the nation's sovereignty and territorial integrity, Tang said.

"We continue to uphold the one-China principle and the policy of 'peaceful reunification; one country, two systems', and will do our utmost for the peaceful reunification of the motherland," Tang said.

The stance is made crystal-clear in the White Paper on the issue of Taiwan, he said.

Tang said that increased economic and trade ties between the two sides of the Straits and the frequent visits across the Straits have benefited both sides of the Straits over the past decade.

And yet the situation beneficial to both sides of the Straits is now being seriously undermined, he said.

If the person nominated in Taiwan's forthcoming election insists on "Taiwan independence", and advocates that "Taiwan is not part of China" and that the two sides of the Taiwan Straits are "two Chinese nations," then "we'll have no other choice," Tang said.

Regarding the common understanding reached between ARATS and the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) in 1992 that both sides should uphold the one China principle, Tang said that only by following this principle can the two sides possibly sit down for talks, enhance mutual understanding and ultimately secure the nation's reunification.

As is reiterated in the White Paper, the two sides can hold talks on any subject under the principle of one-China, Tang said.

"We stand for 'one country, two systems', we are also ready to hear suggestions from representatives of all parties and all walks of life from Taiwan, to have equal consultations and find solutions that better take care of Taiwan compatriots' interests and are acceptable to both sides," Tang said.

However, it is crucial that the Taiwan authorities return to the previously-held one-China principle and the common understanding reached between ARATS and the SEF, Tang said.