Taiwan has no right and qualification to recognize Kosovo's independence, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao said on Monday.

"It is known to all that Taiwan, as a part of China, has no right and qualification at all to make the so-called recognition," Liu said in a press release, in response to the report that Taiwan authorities congratulated on Kosovo's independence and might recognize it.

There is only one China in the world. The commonly accepted consensus is that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory and the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China, said Liu.

"We are firmly opposed to anyone or any organization splitting Taiwan from the mainland under any form. Any attempt that separates Taiwan from the mainland is doomed to fail," Liu said.

Kosovo's parliament voted Sunday to adopt a declaration of independence at an extraordinary session on its independence from Serbia.

Kosovo was a southern autonomous province within Serbia before the breakup of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Among its population of 2 million, over 90 percent are ethnic Albanians and Serbs make up about 7 percent.

Kosovo has been under UN administration since mid-1999, after NATO air-strikes drove out Serbian forces from the province.

(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2008)