The Anti-Secession Law is conducive for national unity and cross-Straits peace, representatives of local youth groups said yesterday.

"The law is restrained and flexible. Its objective is to ease tensions and maintain peace. That's why it does not set out a clear timetable for reunification," Kennedy Wong, chairman of the Hong Kong Taiwan Youth Exchange Promotion Association, said at a forum.

He stressed that the provisions of the law make clear that the Taiwan question is an internal issue of China that brooks no foreign intervention.

Wong, a lawyer by profession, said Hong Kong should actively support the bill and its implementation.

"We should promote increased dialogue and communication between the youths of Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland to push forward efforts towards reunification," he said.

Wong pointed out that the law provides a legal basis for enhanced cross-Straits relations and consensus, especially article six, which calls for active efforts to maintain stability and develop positive relations between the mainland and Taiwan.

Other youth group representatives also expressed support for the bill, adding that Hong Kong could play an important role in furthering the development of cross-Straits relations.

The young people of Hong Kong should promote more unity and communication across the Straits under the framework established by the Anti-Secession Law, and dispel tensions and misunderstandings to achieve peaceful reunification, participants agreed.

(China Daily HK Edition March 18, 2005)