National reunification 'irresistible'

The general trend toward national reunification is irresistible and compatriots on both sides should strive for the bright future of cross-Straits relations, a senior Chinese mainland Taiwan affairs official said in a New Year's greeting to people in Taiwan.

In a New Year's message carried by Relations Across Taiwan Straits magazine on Wednesday, Liu Jieyi, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, called on both sides to promote the peaceful development of cross-Straits ties.

Liu said the Chinese mainland will continue to promote the peaceful reunification of the motherland and he hoped that people in Taiwan can grasp the chance to work with people on the Chinese mainland to create a bright future.

He said that if cross-Straits relations enter the new year on the path of peaceful development, people in Taiwan will fully enjoy the benefits of development.

However, if a small number of people continue to create confrontation and hostility across the Straits, the interests and well-being of the majority of Taiwan residents will be severely damaged, Liu said.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office, strongly condemned the passing of a law on the island on Tuesday that may criminalize many people involved in cross-Straits exchanges.

Zhu said the island's ruling Democratic Progressive Party was creating tensions between the two sides for political and electoral gains by pushing forward the bill. The island leadership vote is scheduled for Jan 11.

The legislative department of the island passed an "anti-infiltration law" on Tuesday to combat what the DPP called "infiltration" and "threats" from the Chinese mainland, through funding people on the island for political aims.

Under the bill, anyone who receives instructions or funding from "external forces" to conduct election campaign activities could be jailed for up to five years and fined up to NT$10 million ($332,000).

Han Kuo-yu, the Kuomintang party's candidate for the leadership election, said in an election debate on Sunday that the law was like "bombs around people's necks", and with the DPP holding control, people could "break the law" at any time.

James Soong Chu-yu, candidate of the People First Party, said in a debate on Friday that the law was not clearly defined and could make suspects of the millions of Taiwan businessmen and students who travel frequently between the two sides.