During their summit on the sidelines of the 12th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders Meeting, Hu noted that Bush had on several occasions reiterated Washington's opposition to "Taiwan independence" and its adherence to the one-China policy and the three Sino-US joint communiques.

China highly appreciates Bush's stance on this issue, Hu said, referring particularly to Bush's public statement on Dec. 9, 2003,of the opposition to the Taiwan authorities' attempt to unilateralchange the status quo across the Taiwan Straits.

Hu said China has always cherished the principles of "peaceful reunification" and "One country, Two systems" in solving the Taiwan issue.

He said China will try every means possible under the one-China principle to reach a peaceful solution to the Taiwan problem.

However, he said, China would never tolerate any attempt to separate Taiwan from the motherland and that "Taiwan independence"is totally unacceptable.

"It will not only ruin peace across the Taiwan Straits but alsogravely wreck peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific," Hu said. "Both China and the United States should perceive the perils of 'Taiwan independence' from such a strategic height."

For his part, Bush said the United States understands that sensitivity of the Taiwan problem and that it will stick to the one-China policy, abide by the three Sino-US joint communiques, oppose any words or deeds to unilaterally alter the status quo anddeclare "independence," and give no inconsistent signals to Taiwan authorities.