Taiwan urges China to drop preconditions for talks on peace accord

Beijing's insistence that Taiwan is a part of China has been the main "political obstacle" hampering a dialogue between the sides, said Chen Ming-tong, chairman of the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council.

Chen's comments came one day after Chinese President Hu Jintao called for a formal peace accord to be discussed under Beijing's "one-China principle," meaning that Taiwan must recognize that it is part of China.

"If China was sincere in pushing for peace, we urge them to recognize the fact that the two sides don't have jurisdiction over each other ... to dismantle military deployment targeted at Taiwan ... and hold talks with our popularly elected government without setting any preconditions," said Chen, who implements the island's mainland policy.

Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949. The "one-China principle" has formed the basis of Beijing's policy toward the self-ruled island ever since.

China has never veered from its insistence that Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to attack if the island makes its de facto independence permanent.

Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian maintains that China has more than 900 missiles aimed at military and civilian targets on the island.

Though Taiwan's government once vowed to reunite with the mainland, over the past several years it has emphasized its separate identity, drawing threats from Beijing.

Hu warned in his Monday speech that Taiwan's independence forces were "stepping up their secessionist activities," jeopardizing chances for peace between the two sides. He said people in China and Taiwan should work to "oppose and constrain such activities" and offered to work with any political parties in Taiwan as long as they agreed that Taiwan was part of China.

Beijing is particularly worried that with Taiwan's next presidential election due in March and the Beijing Olympics in August, Taiwanese leaders might be tempted to test the limits of China's tolerance. Last month, Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party passed a resolution calling for a referendum on Taiwan's sovereignty.

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