DAVID FANG

President Hu Jintao's first visit to Latin America has helped expand the mainland's trade ties with the region and spread the message that Taiwan's independence movement is a security threat to the Asia-Pacific region, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said yesterday.

Summarising Mr Hu's 12-day visit to Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Cuba, Mr Li said the president had won widespread support on the Taiwan issue.

"In the face of the seriousness of the current situation in the Taiwan Strait, President Hu Jintao on many occasions pointed out the peace [we now have] in the Taiwan Strait will be buried because of the independence movement in Taiwan," Xinhua quoted Mr Li saying.

"[Hu said many times that] the risky adventures taken by Taiwan authorities are now the biggest threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and Asia-Pacific region."

But Mr Li did not specifically refer to Mr Hu's meeting with US President George W. Bush at the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum summit in Chile, during which Taiwan was a top agenda issue.

The minister also said Mr Hu's visits opened the door for greater trade and investment co-operation between China and Latin American countries as both sides would soon start negotiations on a range of issues such as free-trade agreements.

In reporting to Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian in Taipei yesterday, Taiwan's Apec envoy, Lee Yuan-tseh, admitted his encounter with Mr Hu in Santiago had been too short to be of any substance.

"We had opportunities to interact during the meeting. But an encounter of only a few minutes was not going to resolve disputes," Dr Lee, co-winner of the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1986, said.

"We could feel each other's goodwill. Time was short and we did not focus on cross-strait issues."

Jiang Shixue , a deputy director of the Institute of Latin American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Mr Hu's visits had helped dispel fears that the mainland's rising economic power - often stereotyped by its cheap exports - posed a threat to Latin American countries.

"The fact is Chinese and Latin Americans know very little about each other," Professor Jiang said. "The two sides should still improve mutual understanding."

The professor said that during Mr Hu's visits, mainland companies signed 39 agreements covering trade, investment, space co-operation and education.

He said a number of the agreements covered the supply of raw materials and energy to China that would play a significant role in sustaining the mainland's economic growth.

Mr Hu returned to Beijing yesterday after a brief stopover in Spain.

Additional reporting by Reuters