Published by: World Tibet Network News, Tuesday, Apr 30, 1996

Tuesday April 30 10:18 AM EDT

BEIJING (Reuter) - China Tuesday rejected an offer by rival Taiwan to resume talks, saying the island must abandon its bid to rejoin the United Nations, and declared Beijing's policy on reunification would never change.

But in a sign that ties between the two diplomatic rivals may be thawing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang made no mention of threats to invade Taiwan.

Asked if China was willing to resume talks with Taiwan, Shen told a news briefing: ``The ball is in Taiwan's court ... We hope they will take action to stop activities aimed at splitting the motherland. This way relations between the two sides will ease quickly.''

However, Shen hinted strongly that the time was not ripe for talks to resume. ``I think there still exist some activities to split the motherland,'' he said.

Monday, Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Koo Chen-fu called for a resumption of semi-official talks with China in a letter to the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait.

Slowly improving relations between Beijing and Taipei, rivals since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, soured last June when Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui tried to break the island out of diplomatic isolation with a private trip to the United States.

Beijing regards the trip as evidence that Lee is only paying lip service to the Nationalists' avowed goal of reunification and is secretly pushing for the island's independence.

China has repeatedly threatened to invade if the island declared independence.

China flexed its military muscle by holding missile tests and live-fire war games near Taiwan in the run-up to the island's first direct presidential elections in March, won by Lee, the incumbent.

On the third anniversary of the highest-level talks between the two sides Monday, Taiwan renewed its call for a resumption in semi-official talks with China.

While cold-shouldering Taiwan's offer, Shen said China would continue to push for increased economic and non-official exchanges with the island.

Shen said China would seek to better protect the legal rights and interests of what he called ``Taiwan compatriots.''

But Taiwan should drop its bid to break out of diplomatic isolation and return to the fold, Shen said.

``We are opposed to Taiwan joining the United Nations in any way,'' Shen said. Beijing took Taipei's seat in the United Nations in 1971.

``Our policy toward Taiwan has not changed -- peaceful reunification and 'one country, two systems','' Shen said. ``I think this policy is more practical,'' he said.

``Our policy on this issue will never change,'' he declared.

Under the ``one country, two systems'' formula, Hong Kong is to revert to Chinese rule in 1997 after 155 years as a British colony but would be allowed to maintain its capitalist economy for at least 50 years.

China has sweetened its offer to Taiwan, agreeing to let the island maintain its own army even after reunification.

But Taiwan wants reunification under very different terms, insisting that China introduce democracy and a free market economy.

Shen warned foreign countries to mind their own business, saying reunification was an internal Chinese matter.