(September 8, 1999) China will by no means abandon the use of force if there occurs "Taiwan independence" or foreign intervention, Chinese President Jiang Zemin said in Canberra on September 8, 1999.

The Taiwan issue is purely China's internal affairs and China's policy on this issue is "peaceful reunification" and the principle of "one country, two systems", stressed Jiang in a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard following their official talks.

Jiang answered questions raised by reporters, and explained China's principled stance on the Taiwan issue and China's entry into the World Trade Organization.

He stated that there was once a good momentum in the cross-straits exchanges and Chairman Wang Daohan of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits had originally planned to visit Taiwan this fall.

However, Lee Teng-hui brazenly made the "two states" remarks, Jiang said, which will by no means be accepted or allowed by the 1.2 billion Chinese people.

Jiang meanwhile noted that the Taiwan issue is a very sensitive issue in the Sino-U.S. relations.

After Lee made the "two states" remarks, Jiang said, U.S. President Bill Clinton had time and again assured him that the U.S. government would adhere to the "one China" policy, abide by the three joint communiques between the U.S. and China, and adopt the "three-no" policy. But at the same time, the U.S. announced sales of advanced weapons to Taiwan that were valued at 550 million U.S. dollars, Jiang said, adding that the Chinese people can by no means understand this.

Commenting on the U.S. proposal that it hopes Wang Daohan would visit Taiwan as scheduled, Jiang said that Wang's visit will not come true unless the following two preconditions are met: one is that Lee openly withdraws his "two states" remarks, and the other is that Lee could only receive Wang in his capacity as the Chairman of the Kuomintang, instead of the so-called "President of the Republic of China".