China slams Taiwan for UN membership bid -Xinhua

BEIJING, July 20 (Reuters) China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, slammed the self-ruled island's government today for applying to join the United Nations under its own name.

China has asserted sovereignty over Taiwan since they split at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and has vowed to bring it back under mainland rule, by force if necessary. Beijing took over China's seat at the United Nations from Taipei in 1971.

Taiwan has failed in a succession of attempts to rejoin UN organisations under its official name, the ''Republic of China''.

Beijing's UN allies far outnumber those of Taipei, which is now recognised by just 24 countries around the world.

''We resolutely oppose it and will keep a close eye on the development of the issue,'' the official Xinhua news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao as saying. ''The Taiwan authorities' attempt to split China will absolutely not succeed.'' Xinhua said that Taiwanese authorities had sent a letter on Thursday to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, formally applying to join the UN in Taiwan's name.

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