EFFORTS by the Taiwan authorities to seek an equal political footing with Beijing in the international arena are doomed to fail, Xinhua (the New China News Agency) said yesterday. In a year-end commentary on cross-strait relations, it said the fact that Taiwan was part of China was irrevocable. ''Any attempts to promote 'two Chinas', 'one China, one Taiwan', or 'Taiwan independence', are doomed to fail,'' Xinhua said. The news agency said the summit between heads of two quasi-official bodies held in Singapore last May had heralded the beginning of a new stage of substantial talks on practical cross-strait matters. But while exchanges between the two sides in areas such as trade had flourished, it warned against the emergence of the theory of ''two sovereign states'' and the island's moves to rejoin the United Nations. ''Over the past year the development of cross-strait relations was still marked by twists and turns as well as the emergence of new variables,'' it said. Xinhua cited as an example the statement made by Taiwan negotiators during the recent talks on repatriation of hijackers concerning the ''legal jurisdiction'' of the Taiwan authorities. It dismissed the Taiwan statement as a move to seek ''an equal status of political entity'' with the mainland. Taiwan has insisted on exercising its legal jurisdiction over hijackers in Taiwanese courts before handing them back to the mainland. Xinhua was also critical of remarks made by a Taiwan minister during the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation forum in Seattle about ''two Chinas in stages''. Looking ahead, Xinhua said cross-strait relations as well as exchanges and contacts between the two sides would be further expanded. ''Consultation between the two sides on practical matters will be the centre of attention of the two peoples,'' Xinhua said. But it warned that a small number of people in the island did not want to see China's reunification and would continue to make waves. ''We must be on full alert and hit hard on the trend,'' Xinhua said.
