Attempts to distance Taiwan from Chinese culture doomed: spokesperson

BEIJING - Any attempt to distance Taiwan from Chinese culture will not gain public support, a Chinese mainland spokesperson said Wednesday.

An Fengshan, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said at a press conference that a move proposed by Taiwan's education authority to reduce classical Chinese content in Chinese language textbooks for senior high schools was aimed at removing the imprint of Chinese culture from the island.

"Such attempts have always met with strong opposition from all walks of life in Taiwan," An said. "They will only do harm to the young generation in Taiwan and its society."

An said "Taiwan independence" forces were the single biggest obstacle to achieving peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and that Taiwan should abandon splittist thinking and return to the 1992 Consensus, which embodied the one-China principle.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the beginning of exchange between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland. Trade between the two sides for the first half of 2017 continued to rise, reaching 87.49 billion US dollars, according to An.

"We have been actively promoting equal treatment between Taiwanese companies operating in the mainland and their mainland counterparts to help Taiwan compatriots share the development opportunities and fruits of the mainland," he said.

The economic and social development of the mainland provides broad space and prospects for exchange and cooperation across the Taiwan Strait, An said.

He said that politically motivated actions that went against economic rules would only damage the interests of Taiwan and its businesses.

"The mainland will continue to put forward policies and measures to facilitate the studying, internships, employment, enterpreneurship and life of Taiwan compatriots on the mainland," he said.

Referring to recent help offered by a mainland medical team to a Taiwanese woman who fell severely ill in Chad, An said the mainland was willing to assist Taiwan compatriots wherever they met difficulties.