Jintao warns Taiwan against secession

BEIJING—Chinese President Hu Jintao Saturday used a speech marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Asia to warn Taiwan that China will never allow the island to break away, state media said.
“We resolutely oppose ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionist forces and their secessionist activities, and will never permit them to secede Taiwan from the motherland in any name and by any means,” he said.
“We will continue to work with the vast number of Taiwan compatriots to accomplish the sacred mission of opposing secession and promoting peaceful reunification”.
Hu made the remark in a lengthy speech delivered at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People to commemorate the Allied victory over Japan in 1945, according to Xinhua news agency and other state-controlled media.
Turning to relations with Japan, Hu said the Chinese emphasis on the need to always remember the past does “not mean to continue the hatred”.
“Instead, we want to draw lessons from history and be forward-looking,” Hu said, stressing that “only by remembering the past and drawing lessons from it can one avoid the repetition of historical tragedies”.
Beijing routinely criticizes Japan for failing to face up to its history of aggression in China in the 1930s and 1940s.
China says it lost 35 million dead and wounded in the war against Japan, which lasted from 1937 to 1945.
China will offer five million dollars to the United States to help relief efforts in the wake of devastating Hurricane Katrina, state media reported Saturday.
Beijing will also send rescue workers to the stricken areas along the US’ southern coast, foreign ministery spokesman Qin Gang told the Xinhua news agency.
US President George W. Bush and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao have agreed to postpone indefinitely their September 7 meeting, the White House announced Saturday, citing the ravages of Katrina.
“Both presidents agreed that, in the present circumstances, it was best not to have a meeting in Washington next week; and they agreed to reschedule the visit of President Hu to another mutually convenient time,” said Bush spokesman Scott McClellan.
The visit would have been Hu’s first to Washington since becoming his country’s supreme leader. He travelled to the US capital on a “coming out” trip in May 2002 when he was vice-president.
In their conversation, Bush also thanked Hu “for the sympathies of the Chinese people on the hardships suffered by Americans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina,” said the spokesman.—Agencies