A Chinese expert on Taiwan Friday urged the Taiwan authorities to grasp the "sincerity and goodwill" expressed in the Anti-Secession Law and Chinese President Hu Jintao's recent speech and take steps "conducive to improving" cross-Strait relations.

"If they do this, Taiwan will be greatly blessed and the cross-Strait relations greatly improved," Huang Jiashu, professor of the People's University of China, said in an interview with Xinhua. "If they stir up and support the protest march, then the atmosphere will be further harmed and the situation further aggravated."

Huang said the anti-secession law passed by China's legislature recently is a law "to safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity" and a law "to maintain the status quo that both the mainland and Taiwan belong to the one and same China."

He said "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces "malevolently distorted" the anti-secession law and sought to instigate hostility between people across the Taiwan Straits.

"The secessionist forces plot to stir up public sentiments to embolden themselves. Such moves are doomed to meet failure," Huang said.

A symposium held in Beijing Friday also echoed the call on the Taiwan people to "correctly understand" Hu's speech and the anti-secession law.

In his March 4 speech on Taiwan issue, Hu Jintao said the Chinese people will do their best to seek peaceful reunification of the motherland but will never tolerate "Taiwan independence."

(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2005)