Zhu said although Lee Teng-hui stepped down this year, he has never given up his attempts to seek independence for the island and has continued to engage in separatist activities overseas, Zhu said.

Everybody knows that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China, and this is a principle that cannot be changed.

"We demanded concerned countries not to provide venues and opportunities for Lee's notorious activities," Zhu said.

Zhu dismissed the report that Ecuador and Bolivia were moving towards establishing relations with Taiwan. He said Ecuador and Bolivia have maintained close relations with China and that reports that the two countries are trying to establish so-called diplomatic ties with Taiwan are completely groundless.

In response to a question about China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), Zhu said China has so far signed agreements with the majority of WTO member countries.

"The focus of work to enter the WTO has shifted from bilateral negotiations to multilateral negotiations," he said. "China hopes to realize its goal of joining the organization by the end of this year," Zhu added.

Zhu announced that French President Jacques Chirac will pay an official visit to China on October 23 at the invitation of Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Chirac will attend, together with President Romano Prodi of the EU Commission, the Third China-EU Summit while in China.

(People's Daily 10/13/2000)