China says political differences will not impact economic ties with Taiwan

BEIJING, Aug 12 (AFP) - A leading Chinese politician told an industry delegation from Taiwan Tuesday that political differences would have no effect on economic ties, state media reported.

Jia Qinglin, the head of a consultative body and a member of the Communist Party's powerful nine-man Politburo Standing Committe, made the remark to visiting representatives of a Taiwan industry union, Xinhua news agency said.

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"The sustained, rapid development of the economy on the Chinese mainland offers opportunities for Taiwan compatriots to invest," Jia said according to the news agency.

The remark came as relations between China and Taiwan were again running the risk of turning cooler.

Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian on Sunday repeated his controversial "one country, each side" remark, which could further enflame tensions with China by asserting the island's independence.

Chen said his party did not accept the "one country, two systems," mechanism Beijing now uses to rule both Hong Kong and Macau and which it hopes to use for reunification with Taiwan, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency.

Hong Kong was swept by mass protests against the unpopular Beijing-backed government in July as a result of the leadership's inability to steer the territory through economic difficulties and its attempts to push through an anti-subversion law.

Over the past week, there has also been a rising number of espionage-related cases involving China and Taiwan, which have been rivals since the end of a civil war in 1949.

A court in southwest China recently sentenced a man to 18 years in jail for spying for Taiwan and a Beijing court conducted a three-hour trial of Yang Jianli, a US resident accused of espionage on behalf of Taiwan.

Taiwanese naval officials last week said a Chinese survey vessel believed to be a "spy ship" was discovered operating near the island, while Taiwan authorities have arrested two local men and a Taiwanese American for allegedly spying for China.

Mainland leaders have consistently vowed to use military might against Taipei if it announces formal independence, indefinitely refuses to "reunify peacefully," or is invaded or occupied by foreign forces.

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