Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said today that a "return" to China is not an option for Taiwan's 23 million people, after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) pressed his country's sovereignty claims in a call with US President Donald Trump.
Xi told Trump yesterday that Taiwan's "return to China" at the end of World War II was a key part of Beijing's vision for the world order.
"We must once again emphasize that the Republic of China, Taiwan, is a fully sovereign and independent country," Cho told reporters outside parliament, referring to Taiwan's formal name.
Photo: Lo Pei-te, Taipei Times
"For the 23 million people of our nation, 'return' is not an option — this is very clear," he added.
In Taiwan's system, the premier is in charge of day-to-day government operations while defense and foreign relations are generally the president's purview.
China has offered Taiwan a "one country, two systems" model, which enjoys no support from any mainstream Taiwanese political party and has been rejected by President William Lai (賴清德).
Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have plunged after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said this month that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Japan.
China says Taiwan is its most important and sensitive diplomatic issue.
Taipei has repeatedly denounced Beijing for trying to distort the legacy of World War II, which ended 80 years ago, especially as Taiwan was handed to the Republic of China government at the end of the conflict.
The People's Republic of China did not come into existence until 1949, when it defeated the Republic of China forces, which then fled to Taiwan.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) told a separate briefing in Taipei today that Beijing's narrative on World War Two was "completely false and untrue".
"Its real intention is simply to isolate Taiwan from the international community and, as part of a broader set of actions, to try to restrict other countries' sovereign choices in how they engage with Taiwan," he added.
Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring Taipei under its control and has stepped up its military pressure.
The Ministry of National Defense said today it had spotted a single balloon coming from China flying over the sensitive Taiwan Strait the day before.
Taiwan has complained that these balloon flights, which typically occur in the winter months, are part of a pattern of Chinese harassment activities.
Beijing's defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China has previously dismissed Taiwan's complaints about the balloons, saying they were for meteorological purposes and should not be hyped up for political reasons.
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