BEIJING, April 13 (Xinhuanet) -- A spokesman of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said here Wednesday that the Taiwan authorities' recent ban on journalists from the mainland-based Xinhua News Agency and People's Daily from reporting on the island was "inappropriate" and had "severely affected" cross-Straits news exchanges.

    Li Weiyi, spokesman of the office, said at a regular press conference that the Taiwan authorities had also made comments "detrimental" to cross-Straits journalistic exchanges while announcing the "totally unjustifiable" ban.

    "Taiwan authorities' arbitrary interference in the normal reporting work of the two mainland news organizations has harmed the legitimate rights and interests of the mainland press and journalists, causing widespread discontent in the journalistic circles on both sides of the Straits," Li added.

    Li said that the mainland would continue with its efforts to promote and expand healthy journalistic exchanges across the Straits, urging the Taiwan authorities to "remove unreasonable obstacles" and "correct its erroneous ways" as soon as possible.

    The Taiwan authorities banned journalists of Xinhua and People's Daily from reporting on the island Sunday, accusing them of contributing to the worsening of cross-Straits relations.

    Both Xinhua and People's Daily protested later that they had always "remained objective" in their reporting, and urged the Taiwan authorities to allow their correspondents to return.   Enditem