BEIJING -- China sought to smooth over scuttled plans to include Taiwan in the torch relay for next year's Beijing Olympics, saying residents of the island were welcome to join in cultural and other exchanges surrounding the games.

The comments Wednesday followed last week's clanging end to 10 months of negotiations on taking the relay to Taiwan, which fell apart over Taiwan's opposition to its position in the relay ahead of Hong Kong and Chinese conditions that no signs of Taiwanese nationalism be seen.

Both Beijing and Taipei accused each other of seeking to exploit the event for political gain after the International Olympic Committee told the sides the issue was closed.

Speaking at a regularly scheduled news conference on Wednesday, Li Weiyi, spokesman for the Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office, said Beijing Olympic organizers had demonstrated "extremely full sincerity and patience" in the negotiations.

"At this stage, I can only express regret," Li said.

"However, as regards this matter, we still strongly welcome Taiwan compatriots to actively participate in Olympic Games-related activities such as sports culture exchanges, Olympic training and competition activities, Olympics-related volunteer activities and so on," Li said.

Taiwan, which has never been included in an Olympic torch relay, had objected to its placement on the route ahead of Hong Kong, saying that it would make it appear to be part of Chinese territory. Taipei also accused Beijing of introducing last-minute conditions on the display of Taiwanese flags and national symbols along the route.

Beijing, which claims the self-governing island as its own territory, said Taiwanese Olympic officials had signed an agreement on the island's inclusion in the relay, but raised objections in April after Beijing announced the route.