US President George W. Bush said Saturday the United States would adhere to the "One-China" policy and oppose any independence moves by Taiwan during a telephone conversation with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Chinese state media reported.
The remarks were reported by China's foreign ministry, the Xinhua news agency said. Since the end of civil war in 1949, Beijing has considered Taiwan a renegade province awaiting reunification, forcefully if necessary, and has repeatedly warned the island against moving towards independence.
In December 2003 Bush publicly rebuked Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian's controversial plan to hold a referendum to ask China to remove hundreds of ballistic missiles targeting the island.
Hu said Taiwan independence remains the biggest threat to peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, Xinhua said.
"We hope that the United States would observe its commitment to adhere to the 'One-China' policy, follow the three Sino-US joint communiqués and oppose 'Taiwan independence,' and would not send wrong signals to the Taiwan authorities," Hu was reported by Xinhua as saying.
Bush Saturday also briefed Hu on the draft resolution on Iraq the United States submitted to the UN Security Council, Xinhua said.
Hu said Iraq needed to hold democratic elections as soon as possible to establish a new representative Iraqi government, with the United Nations playing a key role in the election process, Xinhua said.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2004

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