Taiwan leader's New Year speech exposes secessionist nature: mainland spokesperson

BEIJING - A Chinese mainland spokesperson said Friday that Taiwan leader's New Year speech has once again exposed the Democratic Progressive Party's nature of seeking "Taiwan independence."

Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks in response to a media question about content regarding cross-Strait relations in the speech.

Zhu said the cross-Strait exchanges are currently in an "extremely abnormal state," and the abnormality is due to the obstacles imposed by the DPP.

Noting that the 1992 Consensus, which embodies the one-China principle, is the political foundation for cross-Strait dialogue, Zhu said since the DPP came into power in 2016, it has refused to recognize the consensus, undermining the political foundation of cross-Strait relations, and has repeatedly conducted provocative activities to seek independence.

Returning to the 1992 Consensus is the only way to improve cross-Strait relations, Zhu added.