Taipei, May 29 (CNA) Taiwan blasted the Chinese government on Friday for commemorating its 2005 passage of a law authorizing "non-peaceful means" to prevent Taiwan independence, saying Beijing had given itself "carte blanche for the use of force."

At a forum marking 15 years of the Anti-Secession Act on Friday, Chinese Politburo member Li Zhanshu said China remains committed to "one country, two systems" and "peaceful reunification," but said the act provided grounds for taking "necessary measures" if Taiwan persisted in pushing for independence.

In a press release, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) countered that the law was merely an attempt to impose "unilateral legal measures to decide the future of cross-strait" relations, and gave China "carte blanche for the use of force against Taiwan."

Rather than persisting with a "one country, two systems" model that is rejected by 23 million Taiwanese people, Beijing should accept "peace, parity, democracy and dialogue" as the basis of cross-strait interaction, the MAC said.

Meanwhile, at an interpellation session in the Legislature, Premier Su Tseng-chang likened the unpopularity of the Anti-Secession Act to that of the new national security law Beijing is drafting for Hong Kong, which he said would only further isolate China internationally.

At another point in the session, Defense Minister Yen De-fa told lawmakers that China had made eight threatening maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait since the beginning of the year, but said Taiwan's military is monitoring the situation closely, making "the best preparations for the worst contingencies."

China's Anti-Secession Act, which formalized previous commitments to use military force in the event that Taiwan declared independence, was ratified on March 14, 2005, following the re-election of Taiwan's pro-independence President Chen Shui-bian the year before.