(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-05 08:53

BEIJING - China said on Tuesday that opposing and checking "Taiwan independence" is in the common interests of China and the United States.

"Opposing and checking 'Taiwan independence' is crucial to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the Asia-Pacific region, and is in the interests of both China and the US," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu at a regular press conference.

Jiang was responding to a question on whether during their meeting on the sidelines of the 15th APEC economic leaders' informal meeting, slated for September 3-9 in Sydney, Australia, Chinese President Hu Jintao and his US counterpart George W. Bush will touch on the referendum scheme of Taiwan authorities that aims to seek UN membership.

Jiang confirmed that Hu and Bush will have a meeting but did not say whether their meeting will touch on the referendum plan of Taiwan authorities, which has been opposed and criticized by the US as "a mistake" and "a step towards a declaration of independence of Taiwan, towards an alteration of the status quo."

She repeated China's hope that the US will strictly adhere to its commitments to sticking to the one-China policy, abiding by the three joint communiques between China and the US and opposing "Taiwan independence", and work with China to jointly safeguard peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the general situation of China-US relations.

Jiang said moves of Taiwan authorities concerning the referendum plan are secessionist acts that attempt to separate Taiwan from China.

"We resolutely oppose it and will closely follow development of the situation," said Jiang.

She said there is only one China in the world, Taiwan is an integral part of the Chinese territories, and the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government that represents the whole China.

She said this is the common consensus of the international community, completely accords with the UN Charter and has been confirmed by the Resolution 2758 of the UN General Assembly.