TAIWANESE President Lee Teng-hui has blamed Beijing's 'ideological cocoon' for the lack of progress towards reunification.
In his message released for today's Double Tenth celebration, Mr Lee urges Chinese authorities to give up confrontation and pursue co-operation.
'The Chinese communist authorities have not thrown off their ideological cocoon and, persisting in their self-centredness, are presenting the biggest barrier to reunification,' read a speech issued yesterday by the President's office.
Mr Lee challenges Beijing to a peaceful competition over political and economic development.
But, the President points out, Beijing's insistence on its own ideologies has become a major obstacle to reunification.
The Kuomintang chairman, whom Chinese leaders have accused of pushing for Taiwanese independence, says the nation cannot be unified as long as there are political and economic disparities between the two sides across the Taiwan Strait.
Mr Lee says Taiwan will continue to develop diplomatic relations with other countries as long as the nation is not unified.