The chances of peacefully settling the Taiwan question could be reduced if Taipei continues to push hard for independence, a veteran backer of peaceful national reunification has warned.

Wang Kebin, secretary-general of the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification, expressed deep worries about such a possibility.

Going to the battlefield will be a misfortune for the whole Chinese nation, he said, because the use of force is anything but the best way to achieve the reunification between Taiwan and the mainland.

"That's why the Chinese Government has made unremitting efforts to reunify China through peaceful means in the best interests of all Chinese people including its Taiwan compatriots,'' he told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

"But we are very sorry to see a handful die-hard separatist members led by Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian is waging a high-stakes campaign to increasingly challenge the mainland's bottom line on the issue.''

Wang cautioned that Taipei's stepped-up efforts for Taiwan independence threaten to drag both sides of the Straits into disaster.

His comments reflect the mainland's growing concern over a perceived drift towards independence on the island ahead of the "presidential'' election on March 20.

Wang explained that the potential use of force is just aimed at deterring the attempts of foreign forces to intervene in China's reunification bid and the plot by separatist forces to instigate Taiwan independence.

Not undertaking to renounce the use of force does not mean the Chinese Government intends to settle the Taiwan question by military means, he added.

The China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification was established in September 1988 under the initiative of late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, who proposed the "peaceful reunification'' and "one country, two systems'' policy.

As a non-governmental organization, the council devotes itself to the advocacy of closer ties and peaceful reunification between both sides of the Taiwan Straits and the fight against Taiwan independence at home and abroad.

So far, about 120 organizations for the promotion of peaceful national reunification have been set up in 80 countries and regions.

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