The Chinese mainland is firmly opposed to "Taiwan independence" activities in any form by any person, a spokesperson said, responding to the scheduled visit by Taiwan's opposition party leader to the U.S.
Adhering to the "1992 Consensus" and opposing the political basis of "Taiwan independence" were key to safeguarding the peaceful development of ties between the mainland and Taiwan, and the peace and stability on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, said Fan Liqing, spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office (SCTAO) at a news conference in Beijing.
Tsai Ing-wen, the leader of Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), is going to visit the U.S. on May 29. Tsai is the DPP's candidate for the island's 2016 leadership election.
"We firmly oppose anyone engaging in any form of 'Taiwan independence' activities among the international community," Fan added.
At Wednesday's press conference, Fan also confirmed that the mainland and Taiwan are in communication on arrangements for a meeting between the two cross-Straits affairs chiefs, SCTAO head Zhang Zhijun and Andrew Hsia, mainland affairs chief in Taiwan.
According to the DPP, Tsai will share her views on Taiwan's economic development, her vision on Taiwan's future and related policies between the mainland and the region.
"The U.S. is particularly concerned about Taiwan's economic development and worried that the region's economy is stagnating and would like to know what strategies and ideas the DPP has to boost the economy," Tsai said.
Qiu Yi, a representative of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), told the Global Times that this is a critical time for Tsai to seek support ahead of the island's leadership election in 2016 and that she must be careful about her views on the 1992 Consensus.
"Tsai supports Taiwan's present political situation and disagrees with the 1992 Consensus. If she continues to hold such views, she will infuriate the mainland government and will not receive support from the US because supporting her will endanger China-U.S. relations," he said.
