In an interview with a US magazine, Taiwan "president" Chen Shui-bian insisted Taiwan is an independent country.

But China's stand on the issue is clear: There is only one China, to which both the mainland and Taiwan belong; Taiwan is an integral part of Chinese territory, Kong said.

"Chen said he advocated and stood for separatism," Kong said. "That cannot do any good for cross-Straits relations. It can only give rise to tensions across the Straits."

Chen's remarks contradict his previous comments about improving relations across the Straits, indicating his insincerity, Kong said.

Chen has proposed sending a delegation from his Democratic Progressive Party to the Chinese mainland in a few months.

He has also been considering making a major concession to start talks on ending a ban on direct air and shipping links, according to media reports.

Turning to last week's incident at the Japanese Consulate, the spokesman denied an agreement had been reached with Japan and said China is working to verify the identity of the five people who rushed into the consulate in Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning Province.

"We've made it clear that the Japanese side should face the truth," Kong said. "The Japanese side should stop its unreasonable accusations against China."

In the last several days, Japan's media has accused Chinese guards of violating international law by entering the consulate without permission to take away the five people; But Kong insisted that Japanese officials gave the Chinese guards permission.

When asked about the latest US-Russia arms reduction negotiations, the spokesman said China has always stood for the prohibition and annihilation of nuclear weapons.

"China has never shirked its obligations for nuclear disarmament and its stance on the issue is the most resolute," Kong said.

China holds that the United States and Russia, the two nations with the largest nuclear weapons stockpile, should continue reducing their respective arsenals to pave the way for other nuclear countries taking part in nuclear disarmament process, he said.

In other news, Kong hailed the progress on the establishment of a co-operation mechanism between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Kong said China believes a new kind of international safety mechanism should be set up based on mutual benefits, understanding and equality.

After two days' consultation on Monday and Tuesday in Iceland's capital of Reykjavik, Russia and NATO agreed to build a normal partner relationship, a landmark of Russia and NATO coming out of the Cold War.

Under the agreement with Moscow, a new NATO-Russia Council will set joint policy on a fixed range of issues in the fight against terrorism, including control of the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons; missile defence; arms control.

(China Daily May 17, 2002)