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BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The attempt by Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority to use the novel coronavirus outbreak as an excuse to seek "Taiwan independence" will never succeed, the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office said Thursday.

While all of the Chinese people are engaged in the fight against the virus outbreak, the DPP authority and separatist elements advocating "Taiwan independence" have been taking advantage of the epidemic to call on the World Health Organization (WHO) to allow the island to participate in relevant WHO activities in an attempt to fish in troubled waters and expand the island's so-called "international space," the office said in a statement.

"We will continue to make arrangements for Taiwan to obtain information on the prevention and control of the epidemic as part of China, but we will never allow Taiwan to use it as an opportunity to seek 'Taiwan independence,'" it read.

The office advised the DPP authority to immediately stop their political calculations and manipulations on Taiwan-related questions involving the WHO.