China says Taiwan spoils atmosphere for talks .  BEIJING 1996-08-22  China on Thursday accused Taipei of spoiling the atmosphere for a resumption of talks across the Taiwan Strait with a visit to Ukraine by Taiwanese Vice President Lien Chan this week that infuriated Beijing .  Speaking only hours after Chinese state media said the time was right to engage in political talks with Taiwan , Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang told Reuters : " The necessary atmosphere for the opening of the talks has been disrupted by the Taiwan authorities . "  State media quoted China 's top negotiator with Taipei , Tang Shubei , as telling a visiting group from Taiwan on Wednesday that it was time for the rivals to hold political talks .  " Now is the time for the two sides to engage in political talks ...  that is to end the state of hostility , " Thursday 's overseas edition of the People 's Daily quoted Tang as saying .  The foreign ministry 's Shen told [START_ENT] Reuters Television [END_ENT] in an interview he had read reports of Tang 's comments but gave no details of why the negotiator had considered the time right for talks with Taiwan , which Beijing considers a renegade province .  China , which has long opposed all Taipei efforts to gain greater international recognition , was infuriated by a visit to Ukraine this week by Taiwanese Vice President Lien .
Reuters