The "dubious" consensus reached by the advisory group "is full of nonsense and empty talk," said Zhang Mingqing, spokesman with the Office of Taiwan Affairs under the State Council.

Zhang told a press conference that the formulation suggested by the so-called "cross-party panel"- composed of 25 lawmakers, scholars and business leaders - was representative of extremist pro-independence forces and did not reflect the feelings of Taiwan's mainstream.

The official comments came after the advisory committee suggested on Sunday that Chen abide by the island's constitution when addressing Beijing's one-China principle.

The recommendation, which neglected to mention the term "one-China," was also criticized as "very bizarre" by media and political scientists on the island.

The panel was made up exclusively of members of Chen's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party. All three opposition parties, including the Kuomintang, the New Party and the People First Party, declined the invitation to participate in the panel.

The spokesman said Beijing is firmly opposed to any panel which rejects the one-China principle and promotes two Chinas.

"Our stand on the one-China principle is consistent and long-standing and will never change," Zhang stressed.

He urged the Taiwan authorities to return, as soon as possible, to the 1992 consensus reached by Beijing and Taipei that "the two sides of the Straits both adhere to the one-China principle."

That agreement was reached between the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) in November 1992.

ARATS and SEF are two non-government bodies set up respectively in Beijing and Taipei to deal with cross-Straits ties in the absence of official ties.

Zhang accused Chen of "whitewashing" his mainland policy by "showing groundless and excessive optimism over cross-Straits ties."

"The Taiwan leader has neglected the basic fact that he has so far failed to break the impasse between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan since he took office on May 20 this year," Zhang said.

He told the press conference that Chen's mainland policy has contributed a lot to the current political and economic crisis on the island.

Earlier press reports quoted Chen as saying he is confident that "the island's relations with the Chinese mainland will not worsen in the next 12 months."

Chen also reportedly said cross-Straits ties are "maintaining at a state of stability" thanks to the success of his mainland policy.

Zhang disagreed: "Cross-Straits ties will develop forward and be stabilized if the one-China principle is recognized. Otherwise, the relations between the two sides will go backward."

Zhang expressed doubts about the Taiwan authorities' sincerity with regard to proposals for the opening of three direct links - postal, commercial and transport - with the mainland.

The ban imposed by the Taiwan authorities on direct links between the two sides has brought unnecessarily high costs to Taiwan's economy and has been the subject of increasing complaints from Taiwanese people, Zhang said.

Although the Taiwan authorities have been repeating their willingness to remove the ban, even the proposal of mini-three links - direct links between the mainland ports and three outlying islands including Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu - has yet to be put into place. Taiwan authorities have claimed this hesitation is in the name of "safeguarding the security" of Taiwan.

(China Daily 12/01/2000)