The statement issued on Monday by the Taiwan Work Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council on current relations across the Taiwan Straits is not an ultimatum, said Director Yu Keli of the Institute of Taiwan Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Tuesday.

"But this does not mean the Chinese government and people hold a vague stance in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.

Chen Shui-bian, to be inaugurated on May 20, has moved to the brink of "Taiwan independence," so it is necessary to send solemn warning signals to him, said Yu.

Yu made the remark Tuesday at a briefing organized by the All-China Journalists Association, at which Yu and three other mainland researchers on the Taiwan issue answered questions by reporters from China's mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao.

The other scholars were Xu Bodong, director of the Taiwan Institute of Beijing Union University, Guo Zhenyuan, a research fellow of the China Institute for International Studies, and Sun Shengliang, an associate research fellow of the Taiwan Institute of the CASS.

In their talks, these scholars showed strong support to the Taiwan Work Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council,who were authorized to issue a statement on the current relations between the mainland and Taiwan, now dubbed the "May 17 Authorized Statement".

"The current cross-Straits relations are in a crucial time," said Xu Bodong, noting Chen's referendum plan for a new "constitution" and implementation of a "Taiwan independence" timetable make the cross-Straits relations more severe.

The May 17 statement sent warnings to Chen and other "Taiwan independence" separatists, and aimed to let the United States and the international society see clearly the facts that Chen is a troublemaker and threatens cross-Straits peace, he said.

Only along the seven lines proposed in the statement can the cross-Straits relations hold out a bright prospect of peace, stability and development, he said.

The statement itself demonstrates the mainland's consistent stance and policies toward Taiwan as well as its sincerity in pushing forward cross-Straits relations, he said.

It is necessary for the statement to make the cross-Straits situation clear to all the Chinese and the international society, said Guo Zhenyuan with the Institute of International Studies, warning if Taiwan authorities dare to "play with fire," they will "get burnt" themselves.

"To pro-independence activists, we are 'hawks', but to Taiwan people, we are 'pigeons'," said Xu Bodong. He said the mainland also welcomes those who have given up their wrong, pro-independence stance.

The statement indicates that the mainland has not changed its fundamental stance on the issue of Taiwan and it is an integration of flexibility and fundamentality, Xu noted.

Guo Zhenyuan criticized the Taiwan leaders for their "thinking in the way of gamblers". They are wrong, if they think that the mainland may not adopt decisive measures against "Taiwan independence", due to the coming Olympic Games in 2008, he said.

These mainland scholars agreed that the statement is a kind of warning to the current situation as Chen Shui-bian has come to thebrink of "Taiwan independence". If he goes one step farther, it may lead to a situation the people on the two banks do not want tosee, they held.

However, these scholars believe that the mainland still adheresto the principle of "peaceful reunification, and one country, two systems", though this wording did not appear in the statement.

It is unnecessary that this wording should appear in every statement and document, Yu Keli explained.