China to resolve Taiwan peacefully, Hu tells Bush

BEIJING - China will exert its "utmost efforts" to resolve the Taiwan issue by peaceful means, but will never tolerate independence for the island, Chinese President Hu Jintao told his US counterpart, state media said on Saturday.

Hu and President George W. Bush spoke by telephone on Friday evening, the official Xinhua news agency reported, on the same day that China warned Taiwan of possible war if the island persists with efforts to enact a new constitution by 2008.

Beijing sees Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's goal of adopting a new constitution as a drive towards a formal declaration of independence, and has been preparing for a possible military showdown.

In remarks splashed across major state newspapers, Bush was quoted as voicing understanding of China's concern over the Taiwan issue and reiterating that Washington would adhere to a one-China policy.

Bush, seeking re-election this year, was quoted as not supporting the independence of Taiwan, which China sees as a renegade province to be brought back into the fold.

"The US stance on the issue will never change," Bush was quoted as saying.

When US national security adviser Condoleezza Rice held talks in Beijing this month, she found Chinese officials focused on Taiwan. Days after her visit, China expressed grave concern that US support for Taiwan was undermining its one-China policy.

Beijing and Taipei have been rivals since 1949 when the Chinese Nationalists fled to Taiwan at the end of a civil war.

State media quoted Hu as saying China and the United States had maintained good bilateral relations, and the mainland was willing to continue close contact and communication.

Hu voiced China's opposition to US sales of sophisticated weapons to Taiwan, saying the situation across the Taiwan Strait was very sensitive and complicated, and the two sides should "act resolutely" against Taiwan independence.

Taiwan has been a major factor in Sino-US relations since the United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but pledged to help the island defend itself by supplying weapons.

Bush was quoted as saying a strong and prosperous China was in the interest of both the United States and China, and that the United States wanted to maintain good bilateral relations.

- REUTERS