There should be a genuine adherence on the U.S. part to the one-China principle if it wants to contribute to the stability across the Taiwan Straits, Chinese Consul General in Chicago Zhao Jian said recently.

The political confrontation across the Taiwan Straits after 1949 was a continuation of the Chinese civil war, Zhao said in a signed article published in Star Tribune, the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of Minnesota.

"But both sides have maintained that there is only one China and Taiwan is a part of China, and remained committed to realizing reunification, though they differed on how to do so," he said.

Tension arose because Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authorities, since coming to power, have openly challenged the one-China principle and kept pushing forward "de-sinicization" and "incremental independence," Zhao said.

The U.S. government has continuously obscured and hollowed out the one-China principle, upgraded official contacts with Taiwan and arms sales to Taiwan, only emboldening Taiwan's provocative activities, he added.

The one-China principle is the centerpiece of the relevant China-U.S. joint communiques, and forms the bedrock of China-U.S. relations, said Zhao. "If the United States really wants to contribute to the stability across the straits, there should be a genuine adherence to the one-China principle and a true support to the Chinese efforts to promote the peaceful reunification."

Just as the U.S. government would never agree to the splitting of the union during the American Civil War, the Chinese will never allow the separatist forces to split China, Zhao stressed. 

China resolutely safeguards the one-China principle and will do the utmost to pursue peaceful reunification, Zhao reiterated. "The Chinese people won't fight against their compatriots, but will never allow 'Taiwan independence.'"

(Cover: A man runs in front of the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan. /Xinhua)