China on Tuesday branded Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian a "schemer" for his attempt to push Taiwan into the United Nations, saying that "Taiwan independence" activities are doomed to fail.

The Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council made the remarks in a statement following the UN rejection of Taiwan authorities' application to join the United Nations under the name of Taiwan.

A spokesperson for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday the UN Office of Legal Affairs had rejected the application for UN membership by Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian, which was conveyed by the permanent representatives of two member states, according to a statement issued on the UN's Chinese-language website.

The spokesperson said the decision was made in keeping with resolution 2758 of the UN General Assembly, which determined that the United Nations abides by the one-China policy.

The rejection proved "the international community recognizes that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of China", the statement issued by the two Chinese offices said.

"The secessionist move of applying for UN membership under the name of Taiwan will not change the fact that Taiwan is part of China, nor will it change Taiwan's international status," the statement said.

The statement said any issue involving China's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be determined by China's 1.3 billion people. "This is an issue of basic principle and we leave no room for compromise.

"We remain committed to pushing cross-Strait relations toward peace and stability, but we are also prepared to curb all adventures aimed at 'Taiwan independence'," the statement said, adding China would never allow Taiwan secessionists to separate Taiwan from China under any name or with any means.

The Taiwan authorities under Chen Shui-bian must shoulder serious consequences if they continued to turn a deaf ear to the warnings and denouncements of the international community and recklessly moved for "Taiwan independence", the statement said.

Taiwan authorities on July 19 sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, raising an application for "joining the UN in the name of Taiwan.

The application to join the UN and another move for a UN membership referendum were secessionist schemes pushed by the Taiwan authorities under Chen Shui-bian, the statement said.

After failing to win support for the moves, Chen was forced to say they would not change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and were not against his "four nos" promise -- no declaration of "Taiwan independence," no reference of the "two states" in the constitution, no change of the province's name and no referendum on "Taiwan independence".

However, in the UN application Chen had asked his subordinates to claim that Taiwan was an independent sovereign state and had never been a part of China, the statement said.

All Chen's activities proved he attempted to change the fact that Taiwan is part of China, the statement said.

"With 2008 Taiwan leadership election coming, Chen continues his secessionist provocation for the sake of himself and his party, regardless of the interests of 23 million Taiwan compatriots," the statement said. "Chen is a complete schemer and saboteur who would not hesitate to sacrifice peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the Asia-Pacific region."

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2007)