MOSCOW - Russia expressed support Monday for a law passed by the Chinese parliament allowing Beijing to attack Taiwan should it move further toward independence.
A close Chinese ally with strong bilateral arms trade with Beijing, Moscow said it could not support Taiwan's independence.
"Russia, without change, supports one principled position," the Russia foreign ministry said in a statement.
"We believe that there is only one China in the world, with Taiwan being its inalienable part," the statement said.
"And from this standpoint, we do not support the independence of Taiwan in one form or another. We do not believe that the conception of 'two Chinas' or of 'one China and one Taiwan' are manageable," the statement said.
The National People's Congress passed the legislation as it closed its 10-day annual session, with an overwhelming majority of 2,896 votes for the law and none against. Two delegates abstained.
Taiwan called for one million Taiwanese to rally in protest, while the United States and Japan voiced concern.
The Russian foreign ministry said it viewed "the Taiwanese question" as China's internal affair.
"We view with understanding the vote of the motivation of the People's Congress vote."
But the Moscow statement also called on Beijing to try and peacefully resolve its dispute with Taipei, saying it supported the principle of "one government, two systems."
"The soonest mutually acceptable resolution to the so-called Taiwanese problem would answer the interests of Chinese people living on both sides," the Moscow statement said.
It said a peaceful resolution would "help built stability and peace in the entire Asia-Pacific region."
03/14/2005 11:04 GMT