Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian's attempts to push for independence through "constitutional reforms" cannot be tolerated, said Li Weiyi, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, on Wednesday.

His comments came after Taiwanese media reported that Chen, under huge pressure to resign, had raised the issue of a new "constitution" on Sunday, involving the possibility of changing the "territorial definitions" of Taiwan.

"We are paying close attention to 'constitutional reforms' in Taiwan and are keeping careful watch over the situation," Li said.

Li said such a move demonstrated that Chen had once again abandoned his commitment to the "Four Nos" in pursuit of personal interest. The so-called "Four Nos" are the commitments Chen made when he became Taiwan leader. They comprise no declaration of Taiwan independence, no incorporation of the "two states" remarks into the constitution, no change of the province's name and no referendum on "Taiwan Independence".

Li said Chen has also broken his commitments of not including "territorial" and "sovereignty" changes into the "constitutional reform", and therefore sending out a dangerous signal.

"It also demonstrated, once again, that Chen has never been honest and lacks political credibility," Li said, adding that "we have made great efforts to move cross-strait relations forward peacefully and to safeguard the stability across the Taiwan Strait."

He said that thanks to the efforts of compatriots across the Taiwan Strait, positive elements which are conducive to curbing the "Taiwan Independence" secessionist activities have increased and the cross-strait relations have shown a stronger momentum of moving towards peace and stability.

The spokesman said the mainland will continue to exert great efforts to push relations towards peace and stability.

"Meanwhile, our position of opposing 'Taiwan Independence' will never waver and we will never tolerate 'de jure independence' through the so-called 'constitutional reform'," Li said.

Li also said at the press conference the mainland hopes round-trip cross-Strait charter flight services will be extended beyond festivals periods.

"Regular direct cross-Strait flights serve the fundamental interests of compatriots across the Taiwan Strait," Li said.

He said the cross-Strait charter flights for the Mid-Autumn Festival will last from September 29 to October 13. Similar charter flights have been arranged for other festival weeks during the year, a program started during the 2006 Spring Festival.

The 24 round-trip, cross-Straits charter flights that begin later this week will provide service from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xiamen to Taipei.

In the meantime, Li said the mainland has again urged Taiwan authorities to respond to its proposal to begin consultations on mainlanders' visits to the island.

"We can begin consultations on mainlanders' visits to Taiwan as soon as a suitable non-governmental tourist organization has been set up on Taiwan Island," Li said.

Negotiations could be held on the mainland, in Taiwan, in Hong Kong or Macao, Li said, adding that any negotiation method that helps promote mainlanders' visits to the island is acceptable.

According to Li, the mainland has fully prepared for mainland citizens' visits to Taiwan.

Shao Qiwei, head of the China Tourist Association, led a study group to Taiwan from October 28 to November 6, 2005, paving the way for the opening of tourist routes to the island.

The government subsequently published regulations on mainland residents' travel to Taiwan on April 16 this year.

At the first executive meeting of the cross-Strait tourist exchange association held on August 17 this year, it was announced that preparations for promoting mutual tourist exchanges across the Taiwan Strait had been completed. The government sanctioned mainland residents' visits to Taiwan in May 2005.

Showcasing that relations between the mainland and Taiwan otherwise remain stable are the two major agricultural forums scheduled to take place in October.

The Cross-Strait Agricultural Cooperation Forum, to be held on October 17 and 18 in Bo'ao, Hainan Province, will host around 400 delegates from Taiwan and the mainland.

"An exhibition on cross-Strait agricultural cooperation will be held in Xiamen, Fujian Province on Oct. 19 and 20," said Li, adding nearly 700 agricultural enterprises from Taiwan and the mainland had signed up, making it the largest cross-Strait forum in history. Taiwan delegates would be invited to inspect pilot agricultural projects in mainland cities, thus showcasing the complementary nature of agriculture in Taiwan and the mainland.

(Xinhua News Agency September 28, 2006)