Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Thursday that it is the island's ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) "Taiwan independence" secessionist activities that led to the suspension of individual travel to Taiwan from the Chinese mainland.

The DPP has been promoting "Taiwan independence" and constantly encouraging hostility toward the mainland, creating confrontation across the Straits, he said.

"They destroyed the foundation and conditions of individual travel."

Ma made the remarks in response to the announcement on Wednesday by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism that travel to Taiwan by individuals from the mainland will be suspended from Thursday (Aug 1), given the current climate of cross-Straits relations.

Mainland travelers who wish to visit Taiwan must now join tour groups.

Individual travel to Taiwan was first permitted on a trial basis in June 2011 for travelers from the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen, Fujian province.

This was expanded to 47 cities, including Tianjin, Chongqing and Nanjing, Jiangsu province, over the following three years.

Ma said, "The start of the travel in 2011 was a positive measure to expand exchanges across the Straits in the climate of the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations."

For years, mainland residents' traveling to Taiwan has played a positive role in promoting the development of Taiwan's tourism and related industries, he said.

"I believe that compatriots on both sides hope that cross-Straits relations will return to the right track of peaceful development and that mainland residents' traveling to Taiwan will resume normal and healthy development as soon as possible," he said.