International community and overseas Chinese continued to express support for China's Anti-Secession Law.

Elias Mourad, editor-in-chief of Syria's official Baath newspaper, said Wednesday that the new legislation is a must to stop any form of "Taiwan independence."

He said some foreign powers, fearing China's rapid development would pose a challenge to their national interests, attempt to hamper China's economic rejuvenation and shatter its stability by using the Taiwan issue.

"There are some people who are trying to hinder China's revitalization and make trouble. Some Western powers do not wish to see a prosperous China. Helping Taiwan with its split from China is part of their aim," Mourad said.

"The Taiwan issue is China's internal affair which should be resolved in the framework of the one-China principle through political dialogue," Mourad said.

The Anti-Secession Law was almost unanimously approved by China's National People's Congress on Monday, setting a legal framework to prevent Taiwan's secession from China and to promote the country's peaceful reunification.

It was signed into law by Chinese President Hu Jintao on the same day of the approval.

Nepal's non-governmental academic body, the China Study Center (CSC), on Wednesday welcomed the adoption of the Anti-Secession Law, saying it was "essential for safeguarding China's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

The CSC, a Nepal-China friendship body, views the law as a necessary step in accordance with China's Constitution and its purpose is to protect and preserve the sovereign right of China by legally deterring secessionists, the organization said in a statement.

"No element in Taiwan or outside Taiwan should allow, encourage and instigate the so-called 'Taiwan independence' secessionist forces under any name or by any means," the statement said.

Representatives of Chinese expatriates in Nepal met on Tuesday in the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu to discuss the newly-approved legislation. They voiced full support for the Chinese government's move to safeguard sovereignty of their motherland.

The Chinese nation is a big family and nobody should ever attempt to split any part from it, said a Tibetan who has lived in Nepal for over 20 years.

The Anti-Secession Law reflects the common will of the Tibetan people, she said. Foreign interference in China's internal affairs is not tolerable, she stressed.

In the United States, representatives from the Chinese community in Greater New York area gathered in the Chinese Consulate-General in New York on Wednesday, expressing their firm support to the Anti-Secession Law.

Consul General Liu Biwei said the law, moderate in wording and brief in length, reflects the brotherly affection between compatriots on the two sides of the Taiwan Straits, as well as the goodwill of the Chinese government to work together with Taiwan authorities for peaceful coexistence and common development.

However, a handful of separatists in Taiwan have tried to mislead the people on the island by distorting the spirit of the law, he said. This has indicated once again that the separatist forces in Taiwan constitute the biggest obstacle to the development of across-Straits relations.
 
Dr. Che-Taso Huang, a professor at York College, City University of New York, said the legislation, which is a crystallization of the major policies on Taiwan over the past decades, will go down as a milestone of the Chinese nation. It gives full expression to China's intention to prevent, through legal means, Taiwan's secession from the country and its sincerity to do its utmost to solve the Taiwan issue by peaceful means. Greatly encouraged personally, he wished for the successful enforcement of this law.

Zhang Kuan, chairman of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology in the Greater New York Area, said the anti-secession law, which helps guarantee the continuity of China's long-term policies toward Taiwan, and legitimacy in using non-peaceful means as a last resort. This law embodies the common wish of all Chinese people, compatriots in Taiwan included, in opposing secession and promoting national reunification.

Steven Wong, chairman of Lin Ze Xu Foundation of USA, said only those bent on splitting China will feel worried and frightened by the anti-secession law. He said he is certain that the timely adoption of this law will help effectively curb the secessionist activities in Taiwan and ease the tension in Taiwan Straits.

(Xinhua News Agency March 17, 2005)