level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) also distanced the government from Soong late Thursday. "Soong visited China on behalf of his party, not on behalf of the Taiwan government or the Taiwan people," an MAC official told the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC). "From Hu Jintao's words we can see that China has not softened its Taiwan policy or expressed goodwill. Our policy towards China is consistent, and will not be affected by certain incidents or factors," BCC quoted the unnamed official as saying. Beijing, which views self-governing Taiwan as its territory, has insisted that official negotiations could only be possible after Taipei agrees to its "one China" principle and drops its pro- independence movement. --More 2325 Local Time 2025 GMT
