Wang Zaixi, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, spoke in a group interview with domestic and overseas reporters in Lijiang, southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Wang, who was attending a forum on relations across the Taiwan Straits, said the "one county, two systems" policy was first raised to solve the Taiwan issue. Experience in Hong Kong and Macao has shown that it is a correct and feasible policy.

Hong Kong's economy is facing difficulties at present, mainly due to the influence of such external factors as the Asian financial crisis and the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic. It has nothing to do with the "one county, two systems" policy, said Wang.

He said certain individuals on the Taiwan island had attempted to make an issue of this and had been trying to stigmatize the "one county, two systems" policy. Their reasoning was totally unfounded and they could not succeed in such attempts.

Wang said the "one county, two systems" policy ensures full democracy and freedom to Hong Kong citizens, enabling them to keep their existing ways of life, and ensuring close trade and economic contact between Hong Kong and the mainland. Such an advantage would help Hong Kong to overcome temporary difficulties and maintain prosperity and stability.

In solving the Taiwan issue using the "one county, two systems" policy, Wang said, the mainland will not copy the models of Hong Kong and Macao. For instance, Taiwan may keep its own army and the Central Government would not send a single solider there.

He said he was confident that the "one county, two systems" policy would be continuously improved through the experience of its implementation in Hong Kong and Macao. Implementation of the policy in the two areas would serve as a good example to solving the Taiwan issue, he added.

(Xinhua News Agency July 18, 2003)