"Taiwan independence" is a dead end that will only bring serious disaster to Taiwan, Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Thursday.

Ma made the remarks in response to a claim by a senior member of the island's Democratic Progressive Party, Lai Ching-te, that Taiwan is already an "independent country".

He said Lai, a running mate of DPP leader Tsai Ing-wen in the island's next leadership election in 2020, has repeatedly described himself as a "Taiwan independence worker" — something strongly condemned by people on both sides of the Straits — and has claimed Taiwan's future will be determined by its 23 million people.

Ma said Lai's propagation of Taiwan independence speech at the current time was an attempt to stir up cross-Straits confrontation and threaten cross-Straits peace and stability.

"It once again fully exposes that Lai does not hesitate to harm the fundamental interests of compatriots on both sides, especially those of Taiwan compatriots, in order to meet his desire for political and electoral gain," Ma said. "It also completely strips off the so-called no-provocation mask of the DPP authorities."