BEIJING, June 5: The separation of the Chinese mainland and Taiwan is "abnormal and temporary" and "cannot last indefinitely." the People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece, said in an editorial today, reports AFP.

The editorial argued that the principle of One-China, encompassing Taiwan, is firmly based in international law, as China was given sovereignty over the island at the end of World War II.

The current situation is the result of the Chinese civil war at the end of the 1940s, which forced the defeated Nationalist forces to dee to the island, and the solution is China's internal affair, the editorial said.

(t argued that Taiw’an should never be turned into a sovereign state under the name "Republic of China." the official name adopted by the Taiwan government.