Tsai Ing-wen, head of the Mainland Affairs Council, who was sent to Washington by Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian to clarify Taiwan's China policy, said Japan can ''definitely'' help out to calm the furor in China.

Tsai was speaking to reporters after a forum at the Brookings Institution, a think-tank in Washington, where Tsai gave a private discussion on Taiwan's policy toward China.

Asked by a reporter if Japan could assist in calming down the tension between China and Taiwan, Tsai said in English, ''Definitely.''

Tsai added she would later talk to the Japanese government.

Commenting on the forum, Tsai said she clarified Taiwan's position to the symposium's audience.

''Our mainland policy has not changed,'' she said. ''We continue to assure peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.''

Chen, speaking to a group of pro-independence Taiwanese in Tokyo via the Internet on Saturday, called for ''legislation for a referendum to determine the island's future'' and said ''each side of the Taiwan Strait is a separate country.''

Chen's speech triggered a sharp rebuke from China through China Daily, an official English-language newspaper in Beijing, that Chen was putting Taiwan at risk.

''If we want to strive for peace, we have to be fully prepared for military action,'' a senior military source was quoted as saying in the China Daily.

A spokesman for the White House National Security Council said Wednesday the U.S. does not support an independent Taiwan.

''Our policy with respect to China and Taiwan and differences between the two is long-standing, well-known and unchanged. The U.S. has a one-China policy and we do not support Taiwan independence,'' the NSC spokesman, Sean McCormack, said.

McCormack called on China and Taiwan to avoid steps which might threaten cross-strait peace and stability and urged resumption of dialogue between the two sides.