Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council has denounced Chinese leader Xi Jinping's claims that Taiwan is a "sacred territory" of China "connected by blood," saying that Taiwan has never been a part of China and urging Xi to respect the will of the Taiwanese people.
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00:00Taiwan has criticized Chinese President Xi Jinping for calling Taiwan a sacred territory
00:05of China.
00:06Xi made the comments at a speech ahead of today's 75th anniversary of the founding of
00:11the People's Republic of China, where he claimed that unification with Taiwan is inevitable.
00:17Following this is our reporter Joyce Zeng, joining us now live in Taipei.
00:21Joyce, how has Taiwan responded?
00:27Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, which is the main federal office that handles matters
00:31with China, quickly denounced Chinese President Xi Jinping's claims that Taiwan is a sacred
00:37part of China, connected by blood, and that what he calls separatist activities supporting
00:43independence must be opposed.
00:45Here you're seeing a translated excerpt of the council's statement, where they reminded
00:50the Chinese president that Taiwan has never been a part of the People's Republic of China,
00:55calling this an objective fact, and that Beijing's one-China principle is something
01:01that's been long rejected by the majority of the Taiwanese people.
01:06In Xi's speech, he also grouped Taiwan with Hong Kong and Macau, alluding to his vision
01:13for China.
01:14Again, this is a position that Taiwan has continually rejected, the Mainland Affairs
01:40Council also referring back to Taiwan's president, Lai Ching-te's inauguration speech, where
01:46he called on China to respect the choices of the Taiwanese people under the principle
01:51of parity, and to choose dialogue over confrontation.
01:55Tiffany?
01:56And Joyce, this isn't the first time that Xi Jinping has made such claims.
02:00Are there any differences this time around?
02:05Right, as you say, this is not the first time Xi Jinping is stating this position.
02:10There is a long shared history between the two countries, but they are very different.
02:16There's the self-ruled democracy, that is Taiwan, whose official name is Republic of
02:21China, and the Communist People's Republic of China, whose government has never ruled
02:26over Taiwan.
02:27Clearly, Xi sees this very differently, and has said that he's willing to realize his
02:33vision through military force.
02:35Now, Xi's speech comes at a time of internal pressures for China.
02:40It's trying to turn around an economic slump with an unprecedented stimulus package.
02:45But these internal issues haven't seemed to slow down its claims over Taiwan.
02:50Taiwan's defense ministry was recently put on alert after detecting multiple waves of
02:55missile firings from deep within China, and also after a rare Chinese test launch of an
03:02intercontinental ballistic missile into international waters.
03:06So again, Xi's speech coming at a time of heightened tensions, but also pressure for
03:11China to exert its dominance.