China assured Taiwan that it is "ready to negotiate" with the island under certain conditions. Beijing said this in response to the speech of Taiwanese President William Lai and his expressed readiness to cooperate with China, reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
"Based on the principle of one China, we are ready to hold dialogue on issues leading to reunification with the motherland," said Chen Binghua, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office.
However, Beijing criticized the "separatist position" of President Lai, stressing that it "is doomed to fail".
Lai is a staunch defender of Taiwan's sovereignty and is hated by Beijing, which considers the Taiwanese archipelago part of its territory and threatens to use force to take control of it, AFP notes.
"No matter what the leaders of the Taiwan region say or how they say it, it cannot change the fact that Taiwan is part of China," Chen stressed, quoted by Reuters.