BEIJING -- The Chinese mainland on Wednesday expressed condolences over the death of Chiang Pin-kung, former vice chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party.

"We deeply regret and mourn the passing of Mr Chiang Pin-kung," said Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office at a press conference.

Chiang, who passed away Monday in Taipei, was also the former chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation and former vice president of the Taiwan-based council of the summit for entrepreneurs across the Taiwan Straits.

Chiang resolutely upheld the 1992 Consensus, opposed "Taiwan independence," and helped promote cross-Strait communication and cooperation in the economy and other areas, winning praise and respect from people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, said Ma.

Several mainland officials, including Liu Jieyi, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, and Zhang Zhijun, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, have sent messages of condolences to Chiang's family, Ma said.