Spokesperson denounces proposed U.S.-Taiwan trade agreement

BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Thursday voiced resolute opposition to the negotiation of any agreement of official nature or with implications of sovereignty between the United States and China's Taiwan region.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks in response to an inquiry concerning media reports on the development of the so-called "U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade."

Urging the U.S. side to abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, Ma said that attempts to play the "Taiwan card" to block China's reunification and national rejuvenation will not succeed.

Ma also warned Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authorities that colluding with external forces under the disguise of economic cooperation, and betraying the interests of the people on the island, to seek their own political interests will face reckoning.