Chen Shui-bian and Taiwan authorities are destined to pay a dear price if they stubbornly take the dangerous path of "Taiwan independence" and make a desperate throw of dice, a parliament spokesman warned in Beijing on Tuesday.

Jiang Enzhu, spokesman for China's top legislature's annual session, told a press conference that the so-called "referendum on UN membership" pursued by the Chen Shui-bian authorities is a grave step in seeking "de jure independence" of Taiwan and will seriously harm the peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits and the Asia-Pacific region.

"Safeguarding peace across the Taiwan Straits has been the most important and most urgent task for the compatriots on both sides of the Straits," he said.

He said the Chinese mainland and Taiwan belong to one China. Any issues involving China's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be decided by all the 1.3 billion people of the entire China, Taiwan compatriots included.

"Conflicts and disputes between the two sides of the Straits could be resolved by equal consultations in the process of peaceful development of cross-Straits relations," he said.

He called on Taiwan compatriots to be aware of Chen's intention of conducting the "referendum" and its serious consequences.

To resolutely check "Taiwan Independence" activities is an essential premise of maintaining peace in the Taiwan Straits, Jiang said.

The mainland will adhere to the principle of "peaceful reunification, and one country, two systems", the eight-point proposal for developing relations across the Taiwan Straits, and the four-point guideline on the relations with the island to safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the spokesman said.

(Xinhua News Agency, March 4, 2008)