``We will not commit ourselves to renouncing the use of force on the Taiwan issue,'' the official China Daily quoted Chinese President Jiang Zemin as saying on the phone to Clinton yesterday.

``There are certain forces on the island of Taiwan and in the international community which aim to separate Taiwan from the motherland. We will not stand by and let this happen,'' Jiang told his US counterpart who took the initiative to call on the Washington-Beijing governmental hotline.

Clinton phoned Jiang to restate his strong commitment to adhering to its `One China' policy.

``I want to assure you that policy will not change, you should have full confidence in the statements that I have made to you in our previous meetings,'' Clinton told the Chinese President.

Jiang said the response of theChinese government and people towards Lee's separatist remarks shows their resolute determination to fight against any separatist actions, and firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

``We have warned the Taiwan authorities to stop on the brink of any kind of separation attempts, and avoid damage to the cross-straits relationship as well as the situation in the Taiwan Straits itself,'' he said in the strongest threat in the eight-day-old Taiwan crisis.

Jiang also told Clinton that the anti-China force in the US remains rampant and some people there still favour the splittist attempt on Taiwan independence and spare no effort to support the independent force on the island.

History proves that the handling of the Taiwan issue will have a direct impact on the process of Sino-US relations, the Chinese President said and hoped that Washington would adhere to its promises.

Diplomatic sources say Lee's statement has rattled Washington, partly because of the uncertainty it created inEast Asia. While the US has recognised Beijing as the official government since 1979, it supports Taiwan militarily by selling sophisticated arms.

Though the Chinese media gave scant details of Clinton's remarks during the telephonic talk, sources say the US President told Jiang he ``hoped both sides could maintain a dialogue, and the cross-straits issues could be resolved peacefully.''