Spokesperson blames DPP authority for mainland absence at Taiwan's film festival

BEIJING -- Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority and "Taiwan independence" forces shall be blamed for the mainland film circles' suspension of participation in the Golden Horse Film Festival to be held in Taipei, a mainland spokesperson said Wednesday.

Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson with the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks in response to a question at a regular press conference given by the office.

The DPP authority has continuously created disturbances to the relations across the Taiwan Strait, the spokesperson said, adding that some of Taiwan's political forces made use of cross-Straits exchange events to spread "Taiwan independence" propaganda, undermining cross-Strait exchanges.

Responding to another question, Ma said the fundamental cause of the drop in the number of mainland tourists to Taiwan is that the DPP authority has undermined first the political foundation and then the good situation for the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations.