The US ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke, has raised the issue of Taiwan on his second day of talks in Beijing.

After a meeting with the Chinese foreign minister Tang Jiaxuan, Mr Holbrooke said his talks had been constructive.

"The talks were excellent, we spent about two hours with the foreign minister. We talked about UN issues, we talked about everything, human rights, the UN, Taiwan, everything," Mr Holbrooke said.

"I repeated that we stand for the same thing that five administrations stand for, the one China policy, peaceful cross strait dialogue, and the peaceful resolution of the problem," he added.

Mr Holbrooke is scheduled to hold meetings with Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Vice Premier and foreign policy architect Qian Qichen on Tuesday.

Mission to Taipei

A former US congressman, Lee Hamilton, is meanwhile due to travel to Taiwan on Wednesday, where he is expected to urge restraint on leaders in Taipei.

Mr Hamilton's visit is described as private, but the BBC Washington correspondent Rob Watson says there is little doubt that the trip has the backing of President Clinton.

Our correspondent adds that despite threats of military action from Beijing last week, White House sources say privately that they have no sense of panic or the impending use of force.

Call for dialogue

On Monday, US National Security Advisor Sandy Berger said that the time was now right for China and Taiwan to seize the opportunity for dialogue.

Mr Berger said: "We would encourage a resumption of dialogue. The statements that Mr Chen has made in the last 24 or 48 hours have been conciliatory, the statements from the Chinese side have been measured. And I think this is a time to now seize upon an opportunity that exists to resume a dialogue between Taipei and Beijing."

The 'One-China' principle

Mr Berger's comments came after Chinese President had rejected Taiwan's calls for peace talks, saying that it must first accept reunification with China.

The Taiwanese president-elect Chen Shui-bian had earlier called for a peace summit with China following his victory in Saturday's election.

China repeated that any negotiations with Taipei would have to based on the recognition that Taiwan was a province of China and could never be an independent country.

"The 'One China' principle must first be recognised, and under this prerequisite, everything can be discussed," Mr Jiang said.

But Mr Chen said he was prepared to discuss all aspects of Taiwan's relationship with China, provided Beijing treated Taiwan as an equal and did not insist on its definition of the "One-China" principle.