China is willing to exert the utmost sincerity and the utmost efforts to realize peaceful reunification, but does not allow anybody to separate Taiwan from the motherland in any form, said a Chinese military leader Wednesday.

"The Taiwan issue concerns the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China, and is related to Sino-US relations and peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region as well," he said.

Jiang Zemin, chairman of the Central Military Commission, told visiting US Vice President Dick Cheney, that he hopes that the US could adhere to its commitment on the Taiwan issue, and not to send wrong signals to the "Taiwan Independence" forces.

"Sino-US ties will have more room for development if the Taiwan issue is well handled," he said.

Jiang noted that he had met with US President George W. Bush several times, and reached consensus on developing bilateral constructive and cooperative relationship.

He said the overall development of Sino-US ties is good. The two countries are continuously making progress in coordination and cooperation in many sectors and exchanges between the two armies are increasing despite of some differences existing between the two countries, he added.

Cheney gave a positive appraisal for US-China relations, saying that the two countries have cooperated well over the past years in all fields, and the US government will continue to adhere to the one-China policy, not support "Taiwan Independence", and oppose any unilateral action to change the status quo of the Taiwan Straits.

He said that US-China ties are very important and the US side will strive to push forward the relations continuously.

The two sides also exchanged views on issues of common concern.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2004)