BEIJING - Consultation between the Chinese mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) could resume if Taiwan authorities acknowledge the 1992 Consensus, which upholds the one-China principle, a mainland spokesperson said Wednesday.

Addressing a regular press conference, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, attributed the ongoing political stalemate across the Taiwan Strait to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities' stubborn adherence to the separatist position of "Taiwan independence" since 2016.

She accused the DPP authorities of distorting--and even rejecting--the 1992 Consensus, thereby, undermining the foundation for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and for consultation and exchanges between ARATS and SEF.

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Zhu made the statement in response to recent remarks regarding cross-Strait ties from Frank Wu, the new SEF chairman.

In 1945, the Chinese people won the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and as a result, Taiwan was freed from Japanese colonial rule and returned to the motherland.

After 1949, due to the continuation of China's civil war and interference from external forces, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait entered a prolonged state of political confrontation.

However, Zhu said, Taiwan remains an inalienable part of China's territory -- a fact that has never changed and cannot be changed. "This is not only a historical fact and legal basis but also the status quo," she said. 

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During the press conference, Zhu also urged the DPP authorities to lift restrictions on cross-Strait travel, and reiterated the mainland's commitment to promoting youth exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.

Zhu's remarks were in response to media queries about an upcoming visit by faculty and students from seven mainland universities, including Tsinghua University, Peking University and Fudan University. The visit, scheduled for late November, was at the invitation of the Taiwan-based Ma Ying-jeou Culture and Education Foundation.

Zhu noted that this exchange serves as a reciprocal visit following the trip by Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang, in which he led a group of Taiwanese students to visit mainland universities.

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In addition to youth exchanges, the recent resumption of Fujian province residents' travel to Kinmen and Matsu islands was also highlighted. As of Oct 31, mainland immigration authorities had processed 58,735 travel permit applications for travel to Kinmen and Matsu, according to statistics released at the press conference.

Zhu noted that these figures indicate strong enthusiasm among mainland residents to visit the islands, stressing that the mainland would continue to facilitate mainland group tourism to Taiwan as part of its planned efforts to enhance cross-Strait relations.

"We hope the DPP authorities will heed the voices of the public and remove restrictions on cross-Strait exchanges at an early date," the spokesperson said.